Sarah F. King and Keith A. Hebeisen, partners at Clifford Law Offices, spoke August 4th on “Returning to Jury Trials in the Wake of COVID-19: Powder v. OSF.”
The law partners obtained a $1.1 million verdict on June 4 of this year in Rockford in a medical malpractice case, Powder v. OSF, that involved the death of a 75-year-old man following a negligent cardiac catheterization procedure performed at OSF St. Anthony Medical Center in 2017.
This first civil jury trial in Winnebago County in 16 months after COVID closed down courthouses resulted in a 12-person jury rendering a $1.1 million verdict following a week-long trial that had been put on hold for 8 months.
King and Hebeisen took program attendees through a detailed PowerPoint that explained the necessary pre-trial procedures that need to be taken to ensure everyone’s health and safety as well as several tips on how to equip the courtroom to allow each juror to view exhibits and watch recorded testimony. The program was sponsored by the Northwest Suburban Bar Association.
Hebeisen has been inducted into the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, is the past President of past president of ITLA, and has been recognized for several record-setting verdicts and settlements in Illinois. King and Hebeisen’s substantial experience in plaintiffs’ medical malpractice cases totals more than $300 million including obtaining a record $101 million verdict on behalf of a baby boy who was brain damaged at birth when external fetal monitoring strips were ignored for six hours.