we’re fortunate he’s gone. How many lawsuits did you say have been filed?”
“As of yesterday, there were five,” Davenport replied. “I’ve got a call in to the clerk to see if any additional complaints have been filed today. The state’s also brought charges against English, threatening to revoke his medical license and assess civil penalties. I’m convinced Davis or Steine instigated the state charges.”
Amy was excited. Getting five lawsuits was a great first day with a new client.
Davenport said, “I spoke with English, and as you might expect, he’s a basket case. Each case also namesDr. Lars Herman, a family practitioner. It appears that the two doctors hold privileges at Plainview Community Hospital. Herman is also English’s landlord. The hospital has also been sued.”
Amy was taking copious notes, and Davenport gave her English’s telephone number.
Davenport wrapped up the meeting. He had to be in Knoxville for a dinner meeting with PIC’s newly appointed East Tennessee counsel. Davenport promised Thomas and Amy that the lawsuits would be faxed to their office by the end of the day.
After Davenport left, Thomas turned to Amy: “You need to deliver, not just talk a good game. That means winning lawsuits and, when necessary, settling them on the cheap. Davenport is right about one thing. You’d better control these doctors. This surgeon English sounds like he’ll be a good test.”
Assuring Thomas that she could handle whatever these doctors could throw at her, Amy returned to the sixteenth floor and got back to work.
It took all afternoon for the five lawsuits to be faxed. Each lawsuit was almost twenty pages long, and Amy placed each lawsuit in a separate file. She wouldn’t be able to read through them before she would have to leave early for Carter’s birthday party. She decided to return the phone calls she missed when she was at lunch. She would jump into the cases first thing tomorrow morning.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1992
Carter’s birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese’s was a resounding success, complete with twenty of his friends. Amy let him stay up past nine playing with his new Nintendo game.
It had been such a hectic week that she neglected to get him a Halloween costume for the school Halloween party. She meant to stop at Toys “R” Us to pick up a Ninja Turtle costume but kept forgetting because she was in a constant rush. She was panicked this morning, rushing around, pulling random clothes together to create a hobo costume. She made a rucksack out of a branch from the yard and attached a handkerchief stuffed with newspaper to the end.
When Carter got up, she furiously applied makeup to his cheeks to further enhance the hobo image. When she was finished, he looked like Emmett Kelly of Ringling Brothers fame.
“But I wanted to be Raphael from the Ninja Turtles,” the boy whined.
“I’m sorry, Carter. I’ll pick up a Ninja Turtle costume tomorrow. You can be Raphael when we go trick-or-treating tomorrow night.”
Carter was not pleased, and he got into the car without saying another word.
Amy arrived at the office just before eight o’clock and dug right into the English lawsuits. She decided to start by reading the notice of charges brought by the state’s Medical Licensing Board. The charges were quite detailed, and it took an hour to read them carefully. The state asserted that English and Herman entered into a conspiracy to perform unnecessary procedures and surgeries. The state claimed a pattern of negligent medical care and treatment of patients at Plainview Community Hospital. The charges concluded by claiming that this pattern constituted recklessness.
As Amy wrote down the charges, a messenger brought two banker boxes into her office.
“Mr. Thomas told me to deliver these medical records.”
Amy looked at the summary sheet that Thomas’s secretary prepared, identifying each of the five Plainview cases. She decided
“As of yesterday, there were five,” Davenport replied. “I’ve got a call in to the clerk to see if any additional complaints have been filed today. The state’s also brought charges against English, threatening to revoke his medical license and assess civil penalties. I’m convinced Davis or Steine instigated the state charges.”
Amy was excited. Getting five lawsuits was a great first day with a new client.
Davenport said, “I spoke with English, and as you might expect, he’s a basket case. Each case also namesDr. Lars Herman, a family practitioner. It appears that the two doctors hold privileges at Plainview Community Hospital. Herman is also English’s landlord. The hospital has also been sued.”
Amy was taking copious notes, and Davenport gave her English’s telephone number.
Davenport wrapped up the meeting. He had to be in Knoxville for a dinner meeting with PIC’s newly appointed East Tennessee counsel. Davenport promised Thomas and Amy that the lawsuits would be faxed to their office by the end of the day.
After Davenport left, Thomas turned to Amy: “You need to deliver, not just talk a good game. That means winning lawsuits and, when necessary, settling them on the cheap. Davenport is right about one thing. You’d better control these doctors. This surgeon English sounds like he’ll be a good test.”
Assuring Thomas that she could handle whatever these doctors could throw at her, Amy returned to the sixteenth floor and got back to work.
It took all afternoon for the five lawsuits to be faxed. Each lawsuit was almost twenty pages long, and Amy placed each lawsuit in a separate file. She wouldn’t be able to read through them before she would have to leave early for Carter’s birthday party. She decided to return the phone calls she missed when she was at lunch. She would jump into the cases first thing tomorrow morning.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1992
Carter’s birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese’s was a resounding success, complete with twenty of his friends. Amy let him stay up past nine playing with his new Nintendo game.
It had been such a hectic week that she neglected to get him a Halloween costume for the school Halloween party. She meant to stop at Toys “R” Us to pick up a Ninja Turtle costume but kept forgetting because she was in a constant rush. She was panicked this morning, rushing around, pulling random clothes together to create a hobo costume. She made a rucksack out of a branch from the yard and attached a handkerchief stuffed with newspaper to the end.
When Carter got up, she furiously applied makeup to his cheeks to further enhance the hobo image. When she was finished, he looked like Emmett Kelly of Ringling Brothers fame.
“But I wanted to be Raphael from the Ninja Turtles,” the boy whined.
“I’m sorry, Carter. I’ll pick up a Ninja Turtle costume tomorrow. You can be Raphael when we go trick-or-treating tomorrow night.”
Carter was not pleased, and he got into the car without saying another word.
Amy arrived at the office just before eight o’clock and dug right into the English lawsuits. She decided to start by reading the notice of charges brought by the state’s Medical Licensing Board. The charges were quite detailed, and it took an hour to read them carefully. The state asserted that English and Herman entered into a conspiracy to perform unnecessary procedures and surgeries. The state claimed a pattern of negligent medical care and treatment of patients at Plainview Community Hospital. The charges concluded by claiming that this pattern constituted recklessness.
As Amy wrote down the charges, a messenger brought two banker boxes into her office.
“Mr. Thomas told me to deliver these medical records.”
Amy looked at the summary sheet that Thomas’s secretary prepared, identifying each of the five Plainview cases. She decided
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