Virginia Injury Lawyer Blog
Ending more than two years of motions and appeals, the Virginia Supreme Court has denied writ for defendant appeals in the firm’s medical malpractice default judgment case.
In December 2018, partner Gary Brooks Mims won a default judgment of $468,000, when Emergency Medical Associates (EMA) failed to respond to the medical malpractice lawsuit. The complaint alleged negligence in the treatment of a woman who had broken her shoulder.
EMA claimed it never received service of the complaint and launched a legal barrage of motions and appeals, delaying resolution of the case and compensation to the victim. Arlington County Circuit Court denied EMA’s motion to set aside the verdict and grant a new trial, which EMA then appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court.
EMA then filed a separate lawsuit asking the Arlington County Circuit Court to vacate the default judgment and set the case for trial. Again, EMA lost, and then EMA filed another Petition for Appeal with the Virginia Supreme Court.
With both appeals pending, EMA offered to settle the case for $50,000, which was rejected.
On July 13, 2021 — nearly five years since the victim suffered her injuries and two and a half years since the default judgment — the Virginia Supreme Court agreed with Mims that there had been no error by the Arlington County Circuit Court and denied both Petitions for Appeal.
Wit the accrual of interest, EMA satisfied the judgment and paid $612,169.00.
“Justice, while moving slowly, ultimately prevailed here,” said Mims.