Lawyers Should Take Mothers' Childbirth Injuries More Seriously, SGT Attorneys Say After $30 Million Verdict

October 15, 2024

Silver Golub & Teitell partners David Golub and Sean McElligott called for plaintiffs' lawyers to take on more cases for mothers who are injured while giving birth to their babies, after winning a $30 million verdict for a woman who suffered severe and lasting injuries during a caesarean section that went wrong.

"We thought it was important to bring the case for the mother," Mr. Golub told the Connecticut Law Tribune. "What we found was lawyers don't bring these cases. People don't think the mother's injuries are sufficient to warrant bringing a case without injuries to the baby, but this was a serious case," he said.

Mr. McElligott, who represented the mother along with Mr. Golub and associate Sydney Geer, said that people often discount birth injuries to the mother because they assume that giving birth is traumatic and that harm to a mother's body are inevitable.

"The truth is, with modern medicine, especially with caesarean sections, these injuries shouldn't be as frequent as they are," Mr. McElligott said. "Lawyers should take these cases to hold doctors to a standard of preventing unnecessary and avoidable injury to the mother during labor and delivery."

The lawyers were speaking to the Connecticut Law Tribune after a jury in Stamford made the award to plaintiff Elizabeth Tigani on October 11, 2024. During the trial, defense lawyers repeatedly stressed that Ms. Tigani's baby was uninjured in the delivery, but the court specifically instructed the jury that "it is irrelevant for purposes of your deliberations in this case that Elizabeth Tigani's baby was delivered without injury to the baby," the Law Tribune reported.

The Stamford Advocate and Law360 also reported on the verdict.

Connecticut Law Tribune: Stamford Jury Awards $30 Million to Mother Injured During C-Section (subscription required)

Stamford Advocate: Stamford Jury Awards Darien Woman $30M in C-Section Medical Malpractice Case Against NY Doctor (subscription required)

Law360: Conn Hospital Hit With $30M Verdict in C-Section Suit (subscription required)