Michael Grady (Partner-White Plains), Siobhainin Funchion (Of Counsel-White Plains) and Patti Lacy (Of Counsel-White Plains) obtained a defense verdict on behalf of obstetrician and medical group clients after a three and a half week jury trial conducted in the Supreme Court of Westchester County. The plaintiff alleged a failure to offer and timely perform a cesarean section and that our client obstetrician failed to obtain informed consent for a vacuum-assisted delivery. The plaintiff alleged that as a result of the vacuum use, the infant sustained right-sided brain injury resulting in focal epilepsy, permanent left-sided hemiparesis and significant cognitive delays. Mike and Siobhan argued that the labor was appropriately managed, and at the point where delivery became urgent, a cesarean section was not indicated, concluding that vacuum-assisted delivery was the safest way for the infant to be delivered. They further argued that the child’s damages were not related to a birth injury, but rather were idiopathic epilepsy in nature. The plaintiff’s attorney asked the jury to award $60 million at trial ($28 million in pain and suffering and $32 million in economic damages) after presenting evidence to this effect. The jury unanimously found that the client did not depart from the obstetrical standard of care and that a reasonable person in the plaintiff’s position would not have declined the vacuum-assisted delivery under the circumstances. The trial included testimony from nine expert witnesses.