Mother Pursues Wrongful Death Claim Against Nationwide Children's Hospital After Daughter's Death
Won by The Donahey Law Firm, LLC.
The Donahey Law Firm served as Ohio counsel for a mother whose seven-year-old daughter died after alleged medical negligence by a physician and staff at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, and secured an appellate ruling preserving the family's choice of nationally prominent trial co-counsel over the hospital's objection.
What happened
On September 10, 2013, a Columbus-area mother, Heather Casper, filed suit in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas against Nationwide Children's Hospital and Dr. Richard E. Gorman, M.D., alleging that medical negligence by Gorman and hospital staff caused the suffering and death of her seven-year-old daughter, Caroline E. Casper. The complaint advanced claims of medical malpractice and wrongful death.
Mark E. DeFossez of The Donahey Law Firm, then operating as Donahey, Defossez and Beausay, represented the plaintiff as Ohio counsel throughout the litigation, alongside firm colleague Jacob J. Beausay. With trial scheduled for December 2015, the family sought to bring in Geoffrey N. Fieger, a prominent Michigan trial attorney with a national reputation in medical malpractice, as co-counsel. Fieger filed a motion for pro hac vice admission on September 2, 2015.
The trial court granted the motion eight days later without waiting for the full response period. Nationwide Children's Hospital then filed a memorandum in opposition and moved to vacate the entry, arguing that Fieger's courtroom tactics, documented in courts across multiple states, would cause the hospital irreparable reputational harm if he were permitted to try the case.
The trial court vacated its initial entry, held a hearing on September 30, 2015, and again admitted Fieger, warning that it would strictly curtail unprofessional conduct if it arose. The hospital appealed the pro hac vice ruling rather than waiting for trial.
On June 23, 2016, Ohio's Tenth District Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction, holding that an order granting pro hac vice admission is not a final appealable order and therefore not immediately reviewable. The court noted that the hospital's concerns about Fieger's conduct were too speculative to support reversal at that stage, and that the trial court retained authority to control counsel's behavior during proceedings. The ruling preserved the family's choice of counsel and returned the case to the trial court to proceed.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.