On March 15, 2024, the Alabama Supreme Court affirmed a jury verdict in favor of a local hospital in a case involving a visitor who was injured in a fall caused by an eloping psychiatric patient. The underlying case was tried to a defense verdict in a four-day trial in January of 2023 by the Helmsing Leach team of Ryan Luna, Win Stuardi, and Karen Tucker in Mobile County, Alabama. On appeal, the plaintiff raised substantive and procedural issues, and the appellate team, led by Bill Watts, successfully defended against the plaintiff’s assertions that the trial court erred in its rulings on numerous issues, including jury selection and the admissibility of evidence.

The Helmsing Leach trial team of Russell Buffkin, Karen Tucker, and Win Stuardi, along with co-counsel Susan Cooley of Schell Cooley, recently obtained a defense verdict in a six-day trial in Baldwin County, Alabama for a local hospital in a medical malpractice case arising out of the death of the patient. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs alleged that the patient’s death was caused by the negligence of the telemetry technician in failing to notify the nursing staff of a change in the patient’s oxygen saturation level. At trial, the hospital established, through well-developed testimony from the hospital’s staff, the patient’s treating physicians, and retained experts, that there was no breach of the standard of care because there was no physician order requiring the telemetry technician to monitor the patient’s oxygen saturation level. Through these same witnesses, the hospital also established that the patient’s death was not caused by any breach of the standard of care by the hospital, but instead was the unfortunate but unavoidable consequence of the patient’s end stage lung and heart disease. In closing, the plaintiffs requested the jury award $2 to $3 million in punitive damages; however, the testimony from the defense witnesses was sufficient to overcome the plea to the jury’s emotions, and the 12-member jury rendered a unanimous defense verdict after 25 minutes of deliberation.

Helmsing Leach attorneys Ryan Luna and Samantha Gunnoe successfully represented defendant State Farm Fire and Casualty Company in a breach of contract case tried to a jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. The plaintiff’s claim was based on a first-party insurance claim for property damage caused by Hurricane Sally. The jury returned their verdict in our client’s favor in under six minutes of deliberation.

Firm partners Joe Babington and Russell Buffkin attended the annual meeting of the Trial Attorneys of America (TAA) from June 7-9 in Chicago. Russell presented at the meeting, providing an update on 11th Circuit cases. Joe is a member of the board and past president of TAA, a leading product liability defense organization.

Helmsing Leach is pleased to share that firm partners Jeffery Hartley (Bankruptcy/Restructuring), Joe Babington (Litigation: Commercial General), Casey Pipes (Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use), and Warren Herlong (Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use) were ranked in Chambers and Partners’ USA Guide 2023. Chambers and Partners is one of the world’s leading legal data and analytics providers, highlighting the most prestigious law firms and attorneys. The firm overall was ranked for Commercial Litigation. To obtain the annual rankings, Chambers’ research teams of more than 200 people assess lawyers and law firms across the USA by conducting thousands of interviews with in-house counsel and third-party experts. Helmsing Leach is one of a select few law firms consistently recognized by Chambers in the state of Alabama.

Bill Watts and Tom Gaillard recently won a victory for a local municipal client with the Alabama Supreme Court. The case involved claims against a local municipality and one of its police officers based on allegations of false arrest and malicious prosecution among other claims.  The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the Defendants and the Plaintiff appealed that decision. After extensive briefing, the Alabama Supreme Court recently affirmed summary judgment in favor of all Defendants.