In conjunction with the Palm Beach County Justice Association (PBCJA), GOLDLAW litigation attorney, Timothy Kenison will be presenting a free CLE webinar, on Friday, September 29, 2023.
“Medical Negligence: How to establish a legal relationship between the hospital and tortfeasor physician to survive the hospital’s motion for Summary Judgement,” will be available to all plaintiff’s attorneys, paralegals, legal assistants, and sponsors of the PBCJA. For attending, participants will receive 1.5 General CLE Credits and 1.5 Civil Trial Certification Credits. Kenison’s presentation will discuss following:
Overview: Actual agency v. Apparent agency:
- How defense attorneys and judges conflate actual agency with apparent agency.
- Why Fla Statute 395.0193(10) is the plaintiff lawyers’ friend for establishing actual agency relationships.
- How the hospital’s right to control is the key.
- Why the hospital has more control than it will acknowledge, overcoming the exercise of the physician’s independent medical judgement.
Discovery: Where to find evidence of an actual agency relationship and what it looks like:
- Hospital’s medical staff bylaws and regulations
- Professional services agreements
- Policies and procedures
- Schedules
Kenison, a trial and appellate attorney, specializes in prosecuting medical negligence cases, as well as other complex personal injury claims involving nursing home negligence, negligent security, and defamation. Here’s what he had to say about the upcoming webinar:
“Some plaintiff’s attorneys take on a medical malpractice case and assume that the legal doctrine of respondeat superior, which imposes liability upon the employer of the negligent acts of the employee, will apply. However, except in very rare circumstances, hospitals do not employ the physicians who treat their patients. Instead, hospitals grant staff privileges to physicians, and Florida law is clear that the mere granting of staff privileges does not establish a legal relationship from which the physician’s negligence may be imputed to the hospital. Thus, it is important for practicing medical malpractice attorneys to know how to demonstrate the existence of a legal relationship between the hospital and the physician so that the hospital will be held accountable for the negligence of the physician. This CLE webinar explores two ways in which that may be accomplished through actual agency and apparent agency and details both the discovery requests that should be made and what the relevant evidence looks like to defeat a hospital’s motion for summary judgment that it is not liable for the negligence of its physician.”
For more information about events sponsored by the Palm Beach County Justice Association, visit their website. To learn more about Timothy Kenison and GOLDLAW, visit his personal page.