Kentucky Defense Counsel is pleased to announce that two recent decisions of the Supreme Court of Kentucky aligned with amicus curiae briefs submitted by KDC.

Ashland Hospital Corp. v. Lewis , 2018-SC-276 (rendered 8/29/19), involved a medical malpractice claim in which the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the physician and hospital defendants. The trial court had found that the plaintiff could not establish a prima facie case of negligence due to insufficient evidence of causation. The Court of Appeals reversed after concluding that expert testimony was not needed to support causation. The Supreme Court granted discretionary review, reversed the Court of Appeals, and reinstated the summary judgment in favor of the defendants after finding that causation evidence was necessary and that the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur did not apply. KDC’s amicus brief was authored by Melissa Thompson Richardson, Elizabeth Bass and Katie Haagen of WMR Defense. KDC members who successfully represented the defendants in the case were Mitchell Hall, Keri Hieneman and Alexis Orlando Gonzalez-Lopez of VanAntwerp Attorneys, LLP (counsel for Ashland Hospital), and Kenneth Williams, Jr., David Latherow and Geoffrey Marsh (counsel for Paul Wesley Lewis, M.D.). The decision was designated for publication in the South Western Reporter and became final on September 24, 2019.

In Waugh v. Parker, 2018-SC-405 (rendered 9/26/19), the Court ruled in favor of the defense in a landlord/tenant case and affirmed dismissal of the tenant’s personal injury claim under common law principles rather than permitting the plaintiff to assert a negligence per se claim premised on provisions of the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. KDC’s amicus brief was authored by Joey Wright of Thompson Miller & Simpson PLC and Andrew Yocum of Kriz, Jenkins, Prewitt & Jones, PLC. KDC members who represented the defendants were Berlin Tsai and Joe Hummel of Lynch Cox Gilman & Goodwin, P.S.C. The decision was designated for publication in the South Western Reporter but is not final as of the date of this report.

Congratulations to all of the authors, and an additional thanks to the officers of KDC’s Amicus Committee who worked with them: David Kramer (Chair) and Aaron Silletto and Bill Orberson (Vice-Chairs).