Find Lawyers in West Palm Beach, Florida for Medical Malpractice Law - Plaintiffs
Practice Area Overview
To meet the legal definitions of malpractice, the poor care must be more than a mere mistake by a doctor or more than a health care provider’s simply “being human.” Malpractice occurs when the care or treatment falls below accepted community standards. Such substandard care is commonly referred to as “negligent” care.
Although medical malpractice most commonly is associated with inattention or carelessness on the part of doctors and other health care professionals, the term also includes reckless or intentional misconduct, ranging from discharging a patient prematurely for financial reasons to performing surgery for which the patient has not consented to sexual assault on unconscious patients.
If the victims of such conduct or inaction are able to prove that the provider’s wrongdoing caused their injuries, they will be entitled to a money award to compensate them for what they have lost as a result. Many attorneys will accept such cases on a “contingency fee basis,” that is, taking fees only out of the money they win for you.
This area of law is complex and difficult for injured patients because of numerous technical advantages held by the providers (and their insurance companies). It is therefore particularly important in medical malpractice cases to find an excellent attorney to represent you. It is also important to do so promptly because there are severe (and often arbitrary) time limits on when you may bring your case (“you snooze, you lose”).
There are many questions you should ask when selecting a medical malpractice attorney. Have they handled cases like yours in the past? Do they have a medical background or other medical resources to enable them to compete effectively against the vast resources possessed by the other side? How are they rated by their colleagues and peer organizations? What honors, awards, or other objective ratings of success have they received? Superior qualifications and successful track records are far more important to the outcome of your case than are flashy advertisements.
THEODORE (TED) BABBITT is a former managing partner at Babbitt & Johnson, P.A. who for the past five decades has represented individuals in personal injury, wrongful death, and commercial cases. In 1970, he obtained the first verdict in Palm Beach County for a plaintiff in a medical malpractice case; in 1975, he obtained the first jury verdict in Palm Beach County in excess of one million dollars. When Mr. Babbitt was 17 years old he joined the U.S. Marine Corps and still managed to be sw...
Rosalyn “Sia" Baker-Barnes is a Shareholder at Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A., and the Chairperson of the firm’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee. In her over 20-year career, she has successfully pursued justice for victims in personal injury, medical negligence and product liability cases and frequently lectures throughout the United States on catastrophic injury cases. She has achieved numerous multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements, includi...
F. GREG BARNHART , a senior partner at Searcy Denney Scarola, Barnhart & Shipley, P.A., is recognized as one of America’s leading trial lawyers. He is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by The Florida Bar and regularly handles cases throughout the United States. In addition to being named in The Best Lawyers in America for the past 25 years, Mr. Barnhart has been recognized as one of the Legal Elite in Florida Trend magazine, named a Top Lawyer in South Florida magazine, and listed ...
BRIAN R. DENNEY is a Shareholder at Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A. in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he currently serves on the firm’s Executive Committee. He has earned Florida Bar Board Certification in Civil Trial Law, the highest level of recognition for the competency and experience of a civil trial lawyer. Mr. Denney routinely works with individuals and families throughout Florida whose lives have been devastated due to the negligence of others. He takes pride...
MARIANO GARCIA is a Florida Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer who has been practicing in West Palm Beach since 1994, representing people in personal injury and commercial litigation matters in state and federal courts. He has achieved an AV rating for the highest level of professional ability and ethics from Martindale Hubbell. He is a member of the Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the American Board of Trial Advocates and has been selected to Florida Super Lawyers...
JACK P. HILL played football at Yale University, earned all-Ivy and all-American academic honors, and served as a felony prosecutor in the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s office before joining Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A. A native of Palm Beach County who attended the Benjamin School in North Palm Beach, Mr. Hill handled dozens of jury trials as an Assistant State Attorney, prosecuting crimes ranging from DUI to first degree felonies punishable by life in prison...
Lance C. Ivey is recognized as a top civil litigation attorney in the area of products liability. His practice includes cases involving automotive design and manufacturing defects including insufficient roof strength, handling and stability defects, defective airbags and defective seat belts. Lance has handled defective product cases all over the country and has obtained numerous multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements for firm clients in cases against virtually every international auto...
JOSEPH JOHNSON is a Florida Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer with extensive experience litigating difficult and complex cases. Over the last 38 years, he has represented victims and their families in a wide range of personal injury cases, including medical malpractice, products liability, consumer protection, defective medical devices and automobile and trucking accidents. Mr. Johnson is a third generation lawyer who has been recognized as a Florida Super Lawyer since 2006. He has been sele...
Attorney Chris Larmoyeux is a partner with the personal injury law firm of Larmoyeux & Bone, P.L. Prior to forming Larmoyeux & Bone, Mr. Larmoyeux was a partner with the firm of Montgomery & Larmoyeux. Before that, he was a partner with the firm of Montgomery, Searcy & Denney from 1985 to 1989, and a partner with Montgomery, Lytal, Reiter, Denney & Searcy, P.A., in West Palm Beach, Florida from 1983 – 1985, where he began his legal career in 1979. Mr. Larmoyeux gradu...
ANDREA A. LEWIS is an experienced trial lawyer who has dedicated her life to fighting for victims who have been injured, abused, or killed by the negligence and wrongdoing of others. She has successfully conducted over 80 jury trials and handled many high-profile cases. Due to her experience, Ms. Lewis has been quoted in numerous national publications and her cases have been covered by media outlets across the country, including USAToday, FoxNews and CNN. Ms. Lewis has a lengthy track record ...
EDWARD V. RICCI was born and raised in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He is a graduate of The Benjamin School (1997), Georgetown College (2001), and Georgetown University Law Center (2006). Since joining the firm in 2008, Mr. Ricci has successfully tried numerous personal injury and wrongful death cases to verdict and obtained significant settlements on behalf of his clients. He has advocated for his clients in complicated cases involving product defects, medical malpractice, automobile neglige...
JOHN (JACK) SCAROLA graduated with honors from Georgetown University in 1969 and from Georgetown Law Center in 1973. Before joining the firm in 1978, he was Chief Felony Prosecutor in the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s office, where he was lead counsel in the trials of more than 50 major criminal cases, including the nation’s first gavel-to-gavel televised murder trial. Mr. Scarola is Board Certified in both Civil Trial Practice and Commercial & Business Litigation. While ...
Richard D. Schuler is the founding partner of Schuler, Halvorson, Weisser, Zoeller & Overbeck, in West Palm Beach, Florida. Since the firm began in 1978, he has actively been involved in representing plaintiffs in Civil Trial Litigation throughout the State of Florida and nationally. He is a graduate of Cornell University and Syracuse University. Since 1984, he has been Board Certified by The Florida Bar as a Civil Trial Lawyer.
MATTHEW K. SCHWENCKE earned his law degree from Stetson University College of Law, where he was a member of Stetson's award-winning moot court board. While in law school, he served as intern to a federal magistrate judge and also prosecuted misdemeanor criminal offenses as a Certified Legal Intern for the Pinellas County State Attorney's office. As an undergraduate, Mr. Schwencke attended the University of Florida on a Bright Futures Scholarship; he graduated with honors. A Palm Beach County ...
CHRISTIAN D. SEARCY is president and CEO of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A. and writes and lectures extensively about civil trial practice, personal injury and wrongful death. For 46 years he has litigated cases primarily involving catastrophic injury and death in venues throughout Florida as well as in other states. At age 29, he had the distinction of being the youngest lawyer in the United States to achieve a verdict of $1 million for a single personal injury lawsuit. In...
KAREN E. TERRY is a Shareholder at Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A. in West Palm Beach and has been with the firm for 25 years. Recently, Ms. Terry became Florida Bar Board Certified in civil trial law as well as in health care and medical malpractice, which are the highest honors one can achieve. For the last 10 years in a row, she has been named as one of The Best Lawyers in America. Recently honored as one of the top-rated lawyers in health care in the United States, Ms. ...
DONALD J. WARD III is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the University of Notre Dame Law School, where he earned his degree cum laude. At age 26, in his first jury trial, Mr. Ward obtained a verdict of $824,200, which was more than thirteen times what the defendant had offered to settle the case. Since joining Searcy Denney, he has recovered in excess of $100 million on behalf of his clients. He currently serves as President of the Palm Beach County Justice Association, a countywid...
JUAN C. DIAZ AVIL A has devoted his legal career to the litigation of personal injury, premises liability, wrongful death, negligent security and products liability claims, representing his clients in both state and federal courts from inception of the case through trial. As a native Spanish speaker, he is especially well equipped to understand and serve the needs of the Latino community. Before joining Searcy, Denney, Scarola, Barnhart, & Shipley, P.A. Mr. Diaz Avila worked with the larg...
JORDAN A. DULCIE began his legal career in medical malpractice defense at a boutique firm in Palm Beach Gardens, followed by broader civil litigation practice at a larger civil defense firm in Florida. His practice areas include not only medical malpractice, but automotive accidents and nursing home and assisted living cases. In 2019, 2020 and 2021 he was selected by Palm Beach Illustrated magazine as a top lawyer in the area of medical malpractice, and Florida Super Lawyers Magazine lists hi...
ADAM HECHT , a veteran of more than 75 felony and misdemeanor jury trials as an Assistant State Attorney, now works with Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A. handling medical malpractice, personal injury, wrongful death and products liability cases. Mr. Hecht is licensed to practice law in all jurisdictions in the State of Florida and has been admitted to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He has served on the Young Lawyers Board of Directors ...
GAETANO “GUY” MURPHY is a Jupiter, Florida native who joined Searcy Denney in 2021. He focuses on representing victims and their families in medical negligence, motor vehicle accident, wrongful death, sexual assault and battery, and premises and product liability cases. Previously, Mr. Murphy worked with the West Palm Beach plaintiff’s law firm of Babbitt and Johnson, P.A., where he helped hundreds of clients seek justice in medical malpractice, vehicle accident and other pe...
DAVID P. VITALE JR. is an experienced trial attorney who has litigated cases throughout the state of Florida. Mr. Vitale has been nationally recognized for his achievements by Best Lawyers in America (Ones to Watch) and The National Trial Lawyers (Top 40 Under 40 Civil Plaintiff Attorney – Florida). He has also been recognized by his local peers as a Palm Beach Illustrated Top Lawyer and a Jupiter Magazine Top Lawyer. In addition to pursing personal injury, wrongful death, and medical m...
BORIS ZHADANOVSKIY brings to the Searcy Denney team not only a law degree, but an undergraduate degree in business administration and fluency in both English and Russian. He draws upon his experience in complex insurance litigation to make sure that insurance companies keep their promises to policyholders who have been harmed. A Florida native who grew up in West Palm Beach, Mr. Zhadanovskiy graduated magna cum laude in business administration from Florida State University, where he competed ...
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