Day 32 of 365 Days of Being Thankful
Today I am thankful for our civil trial lawyer Slade McLaughlin.
I just finished reading Red Notice, a non-fiction book about passage of the Magnitsky Act in Congress. Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian attorney, was falsely imprisoned, tortured, and savagely beaten to death for exposing financial corruption by Russian police and Russian oligarchs. Reading about the lengths Bill Browder, an American citizen and client/friend of Magnitsky, went through to get the act passed into law, reminded me of everything Slade did to try to get some civil justice for Amy. It took us seven years to get to civil court after Amy died. I went to the DA, Bruce Castor at the time, to try to get criminal charges brought against Glunk. Castor did a fake investigation because he didn't want me to go to the media. I also filed complaints with the State Board of Medicine and the State Health Department. I gave an interview to the newspaper because they were going to print the story whether we participated or not. Seventeen Magazine did a story about Amy and the local TV news also did a story about Amy's death. A few other news outlets also ran stories about Amy's death. Amy had been at two different hospitals so there were what seemed like hundreds of people to give depositions. Slade had to wade through so many pieces of information. Slade was tenacious. We sued the murderer Glunk and his CRNA Ed Destafano. Glunk countersued the EMT and paramedic so there were three different tables in the courtroom. Usually there are only two tables but the EMT attorney didn't want the jury to associate his clients as being on Glunk's side. Our attorney had told us about the three tables before we went into court. Dan and I had to bite our lips not to smirk about that when we went into the courtroom on the first day. The trial was emotionally draining and so sad so it was good for a few light-hearted moments. Glunk had brought an OR table with a dummy and set it up the way it had been for Amy. After Glunk's attorney questioned him, it was Slade's turn. He asked the judge for permission to approach the dummy. Everyone laughed, even the jury, Slade had meant the dummy patient but we all took it as Glunk the dummy! The EMT and paramedic attorney were on our side because they knew what Glunk did and were mad they were being sued by him. The EMTs and their attorney were at the far left. The murderer Glunk and the CRNA Ed Destefano were at the middle table with their attorneys.. We were at the far right with our two attorneys, closest to the jury.We had two lawyers, Glunk had one, Destefano had two, and the EMT and paramedic had one. There were a lot of attorneys in the courtroom! Slade read every piece of information and presented a case that resulted in the jury awarding us 20 million dollars. It was the largest malpractice punitive monetary award in our state. He is one smart guy! It was only a paper verdict because the murderer Glunk filed for bankruptcy so the judgement was dismissed. The jury made their findings known on May 23, which was seven years to the day that Glunk touched Amy. We didn't care about the money, we just wanted the world to know about Glunk. I remember every second of the trial. The jury loved Slade! After the verdict, Dan and I went in to speak to the jury members. They all told us that we had a great attorney. They were correct, Slade was straightforward, presented his evidence methodically and was over-prepared for everything! He would ask questions as he drew a web around Glunk and then he would sting Glunk with Glunk's own words. The jury members began to understand Slade's questioning tactics. They would sit at the edge of their seats, knowing and waiting for the "sting" and it always happened! One of the young male jurors would openly smile and laugh every time Slade drew a witness into his web and stung them. The young male juror even raised his fist and said "yes" once!
When Olivia and I were shopping for prom dresses at Lord and Taylor three years ago, a young woman came up to me and asked me if my last name was Fledderman. I said yes, thinking she was a former student. She looked very familiar but I couldn't place her. She had been one of the jurors. We talked for a few minutes and she told me that being on the jury was one of the most emotionally significant parts of her life and she still thinks about Amy and about us. Slade went on to represent victim number 1 in the Penn State sexual abuse case involving Jerry Sandusky. Sandusky was convicted of rape and child molestation.
My friend Amy B, who came to many days of the trial, referred to Slade as "Slick Slade " The information below is from Slade's website.
During the procedure, Glunk accidentally severed a blood vessel in Fledderman’s neck, resulting in a fat embolism that entered her bloodstream. An embolism of this sort, if addressed quickly, is very treatable. But rather than get Fledderman to a hospital immediately, Glunk kept her at his office for nearly three hours. By the time she received the medical treatment she needed, it was too late. Fledderman died two days later.
Looking back, the Fledderman case seems tailor-made for the litigator. Over the last three decades McLaughlin, 56, has fostered a reputation as one of the most tenacious and successful trial lawyers in Pennsylvania, focusing the majority of his practice on clients who have been catastrophically injured as a result of accidents, substandard medical care and sexual abuse.
“I’ve worked in construction, management, law, small business, and nobody – nobody – I have ever worked with puts in the time and effort that Slade does,” says Jim McHugh, a Philadelphia trial lawyer who worked with McLaughlin for 15 years at The Beasley Firm. “It’s not a disputable fact. And what that does for his clients is astounding.”
In the case of the Fleddermans, McLaughlin’s doggedness led him to several discoveries that were instrumental in convincing the jury that his clients had been severely wronged by Glunk.
“What I came to realize was that this doctor was more concerned about not wanting an ambulance to pull up in front of his practice than he was for the life of this girl,” says McLaughlin. “When her mother finally insisted that Amy be taken to a hospital that afternoon, do you know what this guy did? He told the 911 dispatcher to make sure the ambulance didn’t turn on its lights or sirens when they got there.”
Glunk denied it, but McLaughlin had evidence.
“I know what he did because I spoke to the dispatcher and got a copy of his records,” recalls McLaughlin. “In the margin he had written, ‘Doctor requests no lights or sirens.'”
McLaughlin also interviewed the two EMTs who had arrived on the scene that afternoon. Contrary to what Glunk said—that Fledderman was doing just fine—the EMTs testified in court that she “was on death’s door.”
“To watch him in court was truly amazing,” recalls Fledderman’s mother, Colleen. “When we spoke to the jury after the trial they told us that the case was closed from the minute Slade started presenting evidence. He was so thorough that they just didn’t believe anything the other side had to say.”
In late 2010, nearly 10 years after Amy’s death, McLaughlin won a $20.5 million verdict in the case, an amount that included the highest punitive damage verdict ever awarded in a Pennsylvania medical malpractice case: $15 million.
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. A verdict like that is just unheard of,” says McHugh.
My friend Amy B, who came to many days of the trial, referred to Slade as "Slick Slade " The information below is from Slade's website.
When 18-year old Amy Fledderman walked into Dr. Richard Glunk’s operating room on May 23, 2001, she and her mother had little reason to be concerned. The liposuction procedure would be fairly straightforward, and in all likelihood, the Penn State freshman would be recovering at home within a few hours.
Then something went wrong.During the procedure, Glunk accidentally severed a blood vessel in Fledderman’s neck, resulting in a fat embolism that entered her bloodstream. An embolism of this sort, if addressed quickly, is very treatable. But rather than get Fledderman to a hospital immediately, Glunk kept her at his office for nearly three hours. By the time she received the medical treatment she needed, it was too late. Fledderman died two days later.
“That may have been the most significant case of my career,” says Slade H. McLaughlin, co-founder of McLaughlin & Lauricella in Philadelphia.
“When I met the Fleddermans they said, ‘We don’t care about the money. We want someone who will take this case to a trial because we want someone to say that this doctor did something wrong and caused the death of our daughter,'” says McLaughlin.Looking back, the Fledderman case seems tailor-made for the litigator. Over the last three decades McLaughlin, 56, has fostered a reputation as one of the most tenacious and successful trial lawyers in Pennsylvania, focusing the majority of his practice on clients who have been catastrophically injured as a result of accidents, substandard medical care and sexual abuse.
“I’ve worked in construction, management, law, small business, and nobody – nobody – I have ever worked with puts in the time and effort that Slade does,” says Jim McHugh, a Philadelphia trial lawyer who worked with McLaughlin for 15 years at The Beasley Firm. “It’s not a disputable fact. And what that does for his clients is astounding.”
In the case of the Fleddermans, McLaughlin’s doggedness led him to several discoveries that were instrumental in convincing the jury that his clients had been severely wronged by Glunk.
Slade Mclaughlin Founding Shareholder / Mclaughlin & Lauricella Personal Injury: Plaintiff Pennsylvania Super Lawyers: 2004-2013; Top 100 Pennsylvania: 2005-2013; Top 100 Philadelphia: 2005-2013; Top 10: 2007, 2009-2010
Glunk denied it, but McLaughlin had evidence.
“I know what he did because I spoke to the dispatcher and got a copy of his records,” recalls McLaughlin. “In the margin he had written, ‘Doctor requests no lights or sirens.'”
McLaughlin also interviewed the two EMTs who had arrived on the scene that afternoon. Contrary to what Glunk said—that Fledderman was doing just fine—the EMTs testified in court that she “was on death’s door.”
“To watch him in court was truly amazing,” recalls Fledderman’s mother, Colleen. “When we spoke to the jury after the trial they told us that the case was closed from the minute Slade started presenting evidence. He was so thorough that they just didn’t believe anything the other side had to say.”
In late 2010, nearly 10 years after Amy’s death, McLaughlin won a $20.5 million verdict in the case, an amount that included the highest punitive damage verdict ever awarded in a Pennsylvania medical malpractice case: $15 million.
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. A verdict like that is just unheard of,” says McHugh.
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