Virginia Injury Lawyer Blog

You suspect that you may be a victim of a medical error. Perhaps you believe that your condition was misdiagnosed or diagnosed too late, or you’ve had complications following surgery, or serious issues related to medication. How do you learn if your treatment was negligent and is an actual case of medical malpractice?

Did you experience a medical error? What is a “medical error?”

The American Medical Association defines an error in the context of health care as “an unintended act or omission or a flawed system or plan that harms or has the potential to harm a patient.” The National Institutes of Health (NCBI) defines medical error as “the failure of a planned action to be completed as intended (an error of execution) or the use of a wrong plan to achieve an aim (an error of planning.)

This spring, Frei, Mims and Perushek partner Matt Perushek is contributing to online professional development events sponsored by the legal community. At the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association 2021 Tort Law Seminar, Matt is moderating a Q&A session on how bankruptcy might affect a case in the “Protecting Your Client’s Recovery” section. For the Virginia State Bar Association, Matt contributed advice on “tough questions” in a live, interactive continuing legal education course. Matt is active in both organizations, serving on the Board of Governors of the Virginia State Bar’s Young Lawyers Conference and as a member of the VTLA Amicus Committee.

Our firm is proud to announce that our associate attorney Ben Charlton  has been selected for inclusion into The National Trial Lawyers’  Top 40 Under 40 Civil Plaintiff Trial Lawyers in Virginia, an honor given to only a select group of lawyers for their superior skills and qualifications in the field.  Membership in this exclusive organization is by invitation only and is limited to the top 40 attorneys in each state or region who have demonstrated excellence and have achieved outstanding results in their careers in either civil plaintiff or criminal defense law.

With the selection of Ben Charlton by The National Trial Lawyers: Top 40 Under 40, Mr. Charlton has shown that he exemplifies superior qualifications, leadership skills, and trial results as a trial lawyer. The selection process for this elite honor is based on a multi-phase process which includes peer nominations combined with third party research. As The National Trial Lawyers: Top 40 Under 40 is an essential source of networking and information for trial attorneys throughout the nation, the final result of the selection process is a credible and comprehensive list of the most outstanding  trial lawyers chosen to represent their state or region

Fairfax, VA, United States — August 20, 2021 – Frei, Mims and Perushek partner Steven M. Frei  was recently voted by his peers as  2021 “Lawyer of the Year” for Medical Malpractice – Plaintiffs law in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region.

  Only a single lawyer in each practice area and designated metropolitan area is honored as the “Lawyer of the Year,” making this accolade particularly significant. These lawyers are selected based on particularly impressive voting averages received during the peer-review assessments.

Receiving this designation reflects the high level of respect a lawyer has earned among other leading lawyers in the same communities and the same practice areas for their abilities, their professionalism, and their integrity.

The March 2020 issue of “ED Legal Letter” features a discussion by Gary Brooks Mims on the difficulties of establishing causation in malpractice claims against emergency medical providers. Mims cited as examples several of his cases where the emergency physicians failed to diagnose stroke, resulting in serious injuries. The failure to diagnose the stroke, Mims explained, was clearly negligent but what makes the case difficult is the issue of causation. In the article, he says, “If the ED defense can prove the injury would have happened regardless of the ED physician’s treatment, even if the treatment was negligent, the ED physician would get off because the negligence would not be a proximate cause of the injury.”

“ED Legal Letter” is a monthly publication for “emergency medicine malpractice prevention and risk management. Mims is quoted in the article “Causation Difficult for Plaintiff in ED Malpractice Claim.”

The personal injury law firm of Sickels, Frei and Mims today announced that partner Charles Sickels is retiring from the firm at the end of 2019. He has moved to Richmond where he will continue serving selected business clients. The firm also announced that Gary B. Mims will assume the role of managing partner.

In a career that has spanned 45 years, Sickels helped hundreds of people succeed in personal injury cases. Over the years, he also developed special expertise in business law. He has nurtured dozens of small and large business clients to plan and structure their organizations, as well as handle contracts, employment disputes, and commercial transactions.  In addition, he served as the registered agent for many organizations doing business in Virginia.

Among Sickels’ many career achievements is a landmark case that ultimately redefined “not to compete” covenants in Virginia. His case, Home Paramount Pest Control v. Rector, is still recognized as a leading decision on post-employment restrictions in Virginia.