This transcript is the trial court's ruling denying a defendant's motion for new trial and/or remittitur of the verdict amount ($8.35 million, a record in this court) in a medical malpractice case brought for a man whose total knee replacement surgery at age 82 ended up with an above-knee amputation due to alleged negligence by the orthopedic surgeon. The court's decision addresses the defendant's allegations of improper comments during trial by plaintiff's counsel and by one of plaintiff's expert witnesses. The court discusses comments by plaintiff's counsel in closing argument about the amount of damages and the propriety of counsel's rhetorical question to the jury asking whether some of them might consider the case to be worth eight figures in damages. The ruling also addresses the legal standard in the District of Columbia for reducing a jury's decision on the amount of damages in a personal injury case.
Please see full publication below for more information.