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Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Courts - Tennessee attorney is loser in Kentucky malpractice lawsuit

Andrew Wolfson has an interesting, an lengthy, story today in the Louisville Courier Journal that begins:

He has been called the lawyer "sued on both ends" -- losing lawsuits filed against him by his client and by the Louisville surgeon his client unsuccessfully sued.

As the Kentucky Trial Court Review put it, Tennessee attorney Laurence Dry was found on one hand to have botched a medical malpractice case "so good he couldn't lose it" and on the other hand to have filed a case "so bad he never should have taken it."

The paradoxical result is unprecedented in Kentucky, according to the presidents of both Kentucky Defense Counsel, which defends civil cases, and the Kentucky Justice Association, which represents plaintiffs.

"This must be the first time this has happened in the history of American law," said Louisville lawyer Gary Weiss, who represented another party in the cases.

From a side-bar headed "Who is Dr. Dry?"
Known as "Dr. Dry," Laurence Dry was a practicing surgeon for 24 years before he switched to law about 20 years ago. He advises other lawyers on medical negligence cases and tries some himself, according to other plaintiff's lawyers, who say he is nationally recognized in the field.

But Dry is also known in Kentucky legal circles for the unusual fashion in which he met his wife, who was a juror on a medical malpractice case he won in Fayette County in 1998.

A few days after the verdict, he called up Wanda McClure, asked her out, and then married her, she later said in a deposition. At their request, the judge who tried the case, Lewis Paisley, performed the ceremony -- after he was assured they had never met before the trial and there was no "funny business" during it, he said.

Paisley, now retired, said it was an innocent case of love at first sight.

The couple is still married, and Wanda McClure Dry, who later went to law school, now practices in his office.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 28, 2007 08:37 AM
Posted to Courts in general