Highlights

• Obtained a defense verdict for a cardiothoracic surgeon after a September 2026 retrial of claims alleging delayed recognition of bleeding adjacent to the liver following open-heart surgery for atrial fibrillation and severe mitral regurgitation.
• Obtained a defense award on behalf of an independent living facility in a negligence and premises liability case arising from a resident’s fall at the facility.
• Obtained a defense verdict in a 6-day trial, for an electrophysiologist in a case alleging negligent recommendation of an ablation procedure, and negligent failure to obtain informed consent, regarding a patient with atrial fibrillation.
• Obtained a defense verdict for a gastroenterologist following a 6 day jury trial, involving allegations of a perforated esophagus during the performance of an esophageal dilation procedure.
• Obtained a defense award in a wrongful death case brought against a skilled nursing facility following an arbitration hearing involving allegations of negligence.
• Obtained a defense award in a personal injury case brought against a skilled nursing facility and the Director of Nursing, involving a left distal femur fracture of unknown etiology.
• Obtained a defense award in an arbitration in favor of a nursing home in a wrongful death case arising from allegations involving a fall sustained by a resident.

• Obtained a jury verdict for a general surgeon accused of negligently performing a gallbladder removal surgery, causing a bile duct injury.
• Obtained a jury verdict in favor of a general surgeon charged with medical negligence in the performance of a laparoscopic cholecystectomy (minimally invasive surgery to remove the gallbladder).
• Obtained a defense verdict following a 3 day arbitration in a case alleging the defendant nursing home’s unsanitary environment and its failure to properly clean, treat, and monitor a surgical incision site caused the resident to develop an infection that necessitated amputation of the resident’s leg.
• Obtained a defense judgment following a nursing home malpractice case involving the death of a resident alleged to have resulted from a medication error and the failure to appropriately treat the resident’s condition and monitor the resident’s hydration status.
• Obtained a defense judgment following an arbitration of a nursing home malpractice case involving claims of personal injury and wrongful death arising out of a fall and the subsequent development of a bedsore.
• Obtained a defense judgment following a four day arbitration of a nursing home malpractice case involving claims of personal injury and wrongful death.
• Obtained defense verdict on behalf of a surgeon in a wrongful death case in which the patient died at home of a perforated colon only hours after being evaluated by the surgeon in his office.
• Obtained judgment as a matter of law during jury trial for general surgeon accused of negligently failing to prescribe anticoagulants following an intra-operative surgical complication.
• Obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a nursing home following a five day jury trial in a case involving a rehabilitation resident who was assessed on admission as a high fall risk and who later fell, sustaining a depressed skull fracture with resulting brain injury.
• Obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a gastroenterologist following a seven day jury trial in a case involving a patient who suffered a cardio-pulmonary arrest during an endoscopic procedure performed under conscious sedation.

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Presentations and Publications

• Getting it Right the First Time:  Learning from Today’s Top Verdicts and Settlements, American Conference Institute 7th Annual Forum on Long Term Care Litigation, Miami, FL (January 19, 2017)
• Is this Just Another One of Those Nursing Homes?  Alabama Nursing Home Association Meeting, Birmingham, AL (February 3, 2014)
• Medical Malpractice:  Expert Witness Issues — Case Law, Depositions, and Impeachment, NBI Webinar (August 8, 2013)
• Lessons Learned from Recent Arbitrations, Alabama Nursing Home Defense Lawyers Association, Perdido Beach, AL (April 28, 2012)

News & Insights

• Starnes Attorneys Mike Wright & Joseph Reese Obtain Defense Verdict for Cardiothoracic Surgeon After Retrial
• 36 STARNES ATTORNEYS LISTED IN BEST LAWYERS IN AMERICA 2027
• 35 Starnes Attorneys Listed in Best Lawyers in America 2026
• SDF’s Brittney Claud & Joseph Reese Obtain Defense Award for Independent Living Facility
• Starnes Attorneys Joe Miller & Joseph Reese Prevail in a 6-Day Medical Malpractice Trial
• 33 Starnes Attorneys Listed in Best Lawyers in America 2025
• 30 Starnes Attorneys Listed in Best Lawyers in America 2024
• SDF Attorneys Prosch & Reese Obtain Defense Verdict After a 6-Day Trial
• 30 SDF ATTORNEYS LISTED IN BEST LAWYERS IN AMERICA 2023
• Starnes Attorneys Reese & Prosch Win Arbitration for a Skilled Nursing Facility
• SDF Attorneys Receive Various Appointments
• Reese & Claud Obtain Defense Award in Nursing Home Case
• Starnes Attorneys Reese & Hines Secure Favorable Arbitration Ruling for a Rehab Facility
• Joseph Reese and Allison Adams Secure Favorable Ruling for a Nursing Home in Arbitration
• 29 SDF ATTORNEYS LISTED IN BEST LAWYERS IN AMERICA 2022
• Joseph Reese & George Newton Selected to Serve on the Executive Committee of the Alabama Chapter of ABOTA
• Twenty-Six SDF Attorneys Listed in Best Lawyers in America 2021
• SDF Attorneys Reese & Miller Win Trial for General Surgeon
• Thirty SDF Attorneys Listed in Best Lawyers 2020
• Twenty-Seven SDF Attorneys Listed in Best Lawyers in America 2019