Opinion ID: 805571
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Bobbett Case

Text: In 2003, Post and Tara Reid, both employed at the time by the law firm of Post & Schell, P.C., were retained to defend Mercy Hospital-Wilkes Barre, Mercy Healthcare Partners, and Catholic Healthcare Partners (collectively, “Mercy”) in a medical malpractice action filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, captioned Bobbett, et al. v. Grabowski, et al., Case No. 4310-C-2003. In May 2005, Post left Post & Schell to start a new law firm with his wife—Post & Post, L.L.C. Thereafter, he continued to represent Mercy in the Bobbett matter, and Reid joined Post & Post as an associate. Trial of the Bobbett case began in September 2005. During its first week, the plaintiffs introduced evidence suggesting that Post and Reid had engaged in misconduct during discovery. Specifically, on Friday, September 23, 2005, plaintiffs’ counsel examined a risk manager, Anne Marie Zimmerman, regarding allegedly undisclosed redactions from medical policies produced by Mercy in discovery. Zimmerman testified that Post and Reid were responsible for the redactions. Plaintiffs’ counsel characterized Zimmerman’s testimony as “establish[ing] that [Post and Reid] covertly redacted and withheld information from documents . . . , and/or simply failed to produce requested documents without permission from this Court and/or notice to Plaintiffs’ counsel.” Plaintiffs’ counsel then suggested to the presiding Judge, Hon. Peter Paul Olszewski, Jr., that the trial be adjourned for the day. On learning of this possible discovery misconduct, Mercy replaced Post as its counsel. 4 Fearing that the jury now believed that there had been a “cover-up” involving its lawyers, and concerned with the “substantial potential of uninsured punitive exposure,” Mercy, represented by new counsel, began settlement negotiations with the plaintiffs over the weekend. The negotiations resulted in a settlement of $11 million, which represented the full extent of Mercy’s medical malpractice policy limits. The settlement was presented to Judge Olszewski in court on Tuesday, September 27, 2005. It included a release among the parties, but with one significant caveat: the settlement agreement did not release Post, Reid, Post & Schell, and/or Post & Post from any liability they, or any of them, might have to Mercy for malpractice. Mercy did in fact threaten Post with a malpractice suit.