Sean Claggett | Elisa Sales v. Summerlin Hospital and Medical Center | Undisclosed Settlement

This week, your hosts Steve Lowry and Yvonne Godfrey interview Sean Claggett of Claggett & Sykes Law Firm (https://www.claggettlaw.com/)

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Episode Details:

Nevada trial lawyer Sean Claggett shares his legal strategy representing Elisa Sales, a woman who sustained permanent brain damage when doctors at Summerlin Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas failed to act with urgency after she went into respiratory arrest during a routine pacemaker replacement surgery. During the procedure, the alarms on the monitors checking Elisa's heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen levels were turned off and inaudible, which was against hospital policy. Due to this violation, the medical staff was not alerted when Elisa's blood pressure dropped dangerously low after she was given too much sedative medication. The doctors and medical staff failed to begin immediately performing CPR when they realized her life-threatening condition, violating the standard of care. The medical team's lack of urgency left Elisa's brain without oxygen, causing permanent damage that reduced her mental capacity to that of a five-year-old. Sean Claggett originally asked for $63 million in damages for Elisa's suffering. After hearing from 18 fact witnesses and 13 expert witnesses during the trial, the defense chose to settle the medical malpractice lawsuit for an undisclosed amount immediately following closing arguments.

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Guest Bios:

Sean Claggett

Sean Claggett is an established Las Vegas personal injury attorney and handles difficult cases across the country. Sean founded Claggett & Sykes Law Firm in 2005, and is the firm’s lead trial lawyer.

In 2017, Sean was recognized by his fellow trial lawyers of the Nevada Justice Association as Nevada’s Trial Attorney of the Year.

In 2016, Sean had the fourth most influential verdict in the United States according to Courtroom View Network, stemming from a slip and fall at Lowe’s in which his client suffered a TBI after she slipped, fell, and knocked down a three-foot yellow warning cone. Lowe’s top offer before the verdict was $1,400,000.00, and the referring plaintiff attorney offered to resolve the case for $1,749,999.99. The jury returned a verdict in the amount of $16,430,000.00.

Sean’s trial success continued with two verdicts in 2018 in the amounts of $20,000,000.00 and $3,382,000.00. Sean’s verdict of $20,000,000.00 was recognized as the fourth most influential verdict in the United States according to Courtroom View Network, stemming from a negligence case against an HOA for failing to maintain its swing set. The HOA’s top offer before trial was $400,000.00, and the referring plaintiff offered the HOA to resolve the case for $949,000.00. The plaintiff in the case suffered a TBI.

Sean’s trial success continued in 2019 as he obtained a verdict of $645,814.33 in which there was a 16-day gap in treatment after the initial wreck, and then, after eight months of physical therapy treatment, there was a three and a half year gap in treatment before the plaintiff obtained further treatment for his back injury. The top offer from the defense was $50,000.00, and the referring attorney agreed to accept $180,000.00 to resolve the case prior to trial.

Later that year, Sean received an honorable mention from Courtroom View Network as having one of the year’s most impressive trials for his work on a medical malpractice trial where his client suffered a TBI. Sean asked for $63,000,000.00 in closing arguments and the case settled before the jury returned a verdict.

In 2020, Courtroom View Network named Sean to its “Who We’re Watching” list. Courtroom View Network says that after more than a decade of capturing trials for its streaming network, the lawyers on this list are its best of the best of the decade and are the lawyers that other lawyers should watch if they’re looking to improve their craft.

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Free Resources:

Stages Of A Jury Trial - Part 1

Stages Of A Jury Trial - Part 2