Rath, Young and Pignatelli’s trial attorneys have brought thousands of disputes to successful conclusions.  We have wide experience in evaluating, negotiating and trying cases in state and federal courts in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Maine.  We represent businesses, individuals, non-profits, and municipalities in a diverse range of matters, including professional liability, medical malpractice, business, insurance, environmental, employment, probate, personal injury, and tax matters.

Our attorneys thoroughly investigate cases and handle all strategy decisions from pre-suit demands, through the pleading, discovery and pre-trial stages, and through trial and appeal. We have an excellent record before New Hampshire juries and the New Hampshire Supreme Court, and have represented clients throughout the country at all levels of trial and appellate practice.

Well-known and respected by judges and opposing counsel, our attorneys have been recognized by the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers, and by peer ranking organizations such as Martindale Hubbell, Best Lawyers, and Super Lawyers.  Many of our attorneys have worked for the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, United States Attorney’s Office, or as law clerks to federal or state court judges.

Recognizing that litigation can be an expensive process and takes its toll on clients, we are always seeking to resolve disputes in an efficient fashion.  When appropriate, we recommend filing dispositive motions, and we might recommend mediation and arbitration, or entering into settlement negotiations.  Fees for litigation services can be arranged on an hourly or contingent basis, or in more flexible, staged or modified engagements.

Our attorneys are assisted by experienced associates and paralegals, including a nurse-paralegal who is a valuable resource on matters involving medical issues.

The litigation group has represented clients in a diverse range of matters:

• Defending physicians and other medical professionals, practice groups, hospitals, health care clinics, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities against medical negligence lawsuits in state and federal court.
• Representing physicians, nurses and other professionals before administrative licensing boards including the Board of Medicine, Board of Dentistry, Board of Nursing, and Bureau of Elderly and Adult Services (BEAS).
• Representing professionals and businesses in commercial, contract, employment, insurance coverage, insurance liquidation, and tax disputes.
• Defending individual and corporate clients in state and federal tax audits and litigation, including successful defense of New Hampshire business facing $40 million civil fraud claim.
• Initiating and defending multi-million dollar disputes involving negligent misrepresentation in purchase of company, breach of contract, environmental insurance, minority shareholder rights, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty.
• Representing high tech companies in employment, tax, and patent litigation before state and federal courts.
• Representing municipal and industrial clients in environmental matters and Superfund site litigation, in state and federal courts, and before regulatory agencies.
• Defending product designers and manufacturers in products liability suits, including obtaining summary judgment on behalf of Fortune 500 company on negligent design and manufacturing claims.
• Representing parties in high stakes probate litigation, including cases involving fraud, abuse, duress, and undue influence.
• Prosecuting and defending employment actions, including high-level executive compensation disputes, non-competition and confidentiality agreements, whistleblower, wrongful termination, wage and hour, and employment discrimination matters.

Since 1987, our Law Firm has been a leading and well respected team of highly skilled lawyers in the litigation of medical malpractice cases in New England and on medical matters before all New Hampshire Courts and State medical boards. Our record of trials and settlements has earned us accolades from the medical community. Among many winning trial results are:

• Winning verdict for internist (a patient’s family sued for alleged negligence for failing to prevent man’s death from a heart attack.)
• Winning verdict for family practitioners (a family sued alleging improper use of Coumadin led to a stroke.)
• Winning verdict for infectious disease specialist (a patient sued alleging failure to diagnose meningitis.)
• Winning verdict for psychiatrist (suit for failing to prevent inpatient psychiatric patient from causing self-injury.)
• Winning verdict for surgeon (suit alleging negligent performance of colonoscopy resulting in bowel perforation.)
• Winning verdict for hospital (lawsuit for chronic regional pain syndrome after foot surgery.)
• Winning verdict for psychiatric hospital (family filed suit alleging failure to prevent suicide of psychiatric patient.)
• Winning verdict for neurosurgeon (suit alleging injury to laryngeal nerve during carotid endarterectomy.)
• Winning verdict for gynecologist (suit alleging failure to diagnose post-surgery complications.)
• Winning verdict for neurologist (suit brought by family of patient who had a stroke.)
• Winning verdict for family practitioner (suit brought for injury in physician’s office after a test procedure.)
• Screening panel victory leads to dismissal of lawsuit (suit brought against general surgeon for injury during laparotomy.)

Other victories before trial include:

• Won New Hampshire Supreme Court affirmance of of a medical malpractice case involving claims related to foot surgery.
• Won administrative hearing before Department of Health and Human Services on behalf of physician.
• Obtained voluntary dismissal with prejudice for New Hampshire hospital in medical malpractice case during summary judgment proceedings related to an apparent agency claim.
• Obtained voluntary dismissal with prejudice for New Hampshire nursing home after plaintiff’s expert witness failed to express criticisms and a motion for summary judgment.
• Obtained voluntary dismissals with prejudice for New Hampshire radiologist and radiology practice in two lawsuits related to alleged delays in diagnosis of cancer.
• Won summary judgment for New Hampshire hospital on statute of limitations grounds in case alleging treatment side-effects.
• Defeated attempts by New Hampshire Office of Professional Licensure and Certification (OPLC) to obtain ex parte emergency suspension of a New Hampshire physician, based upon lack of Due Process and inability to meet the requirements for emergency action.
• Overturned ex parte emergency suspension of a physician at a hearing before the Board of Medicine.
• Won dismissal of New Hampshire Federal Court case involving claims against psychiatrist alleging improper prescriptions of antipsychotic medication to minor.
• Won dismissal of New Hampshire Federal Court case alleging negligence by New Hampshire Primary event organizer caused injury to protestor.
• Won summary judgment in products liability lawsuit involving claims of personal injury caused by allegedly faulty elevator door.
• Successful defenses of multiple practitioners before the Board of Medicine, Board of Psychologists, Board of Dentistry, Board of Nursing, and Board of Chiropractic Examiners. 

Our attorneys handle major personal injury claims for victims injured through the negligence, carelessness, or inattention of others as well as everyday products that suffer from design, manufacturing, or warning defects.

We have assisted clients in cases involving motor vehicle crashes, slips and falls, DUI and alcohol service, chemicals, and other mechanisms of injury. The injuries occur at businesses and homes, on highways and back roads, in parking lots, and on walkways. Our clients have suffered severe concussions, bone fractures, neck and back injuries, soft tissue injuries, and death.

We help our clients recover for their financial losses such as loss of a career due to disability, loss of past and future income, large medical bills, the need for future medical care, and other expenses. The losses also include “non-economic” damages that our clients live with every day, affecting their daily activities, their work, their family life, their exercise, their sleep, and their ability to live independently. Our clients often live in pain and must seek ongoing treatment for their injuries.

In addition to physical pain, our clients bear emotional and mental pain and suffering, sometimes as serious as post-traumatic stress disorder, known as PTSD, anxiety, and depression. They lose their ability to enjoy the activities and life they had before their injuries. Their loved ones lose out on the close family or spousal relationships, known as loss of consortium.

Every case is our client’s top priority, and we treat it accordingly. We prepare meticulously, interviewing our clients thoroughly, finding and interviewing witnesses, obtaining medical records, photographs, videos, vehicle data, wage records, and other information. We work with police departments, fire departments, and other Federal and state agencies to obtain their files and reports. We track down surveillance videos of the incidents that injured our clients. Our attorneys review every scrap of evidence to demonstrate liability by the other party, causation of injuries, and the damages our clients have suffered.

During our investigation, we work with expert witnesses who are at the top of their fields. They educate our clients and us about the issues in the case. We prepare them to testify strongly about their opinions and to educate the Court and the Jury. Medical professionals such as physicians, physical therapists, nurses, psychologists, rehabilitation specialists, and economists tell us about our clients’ injuries. Engineers, crash reconstruction specialists, and others evaluate the incident that occurred and inform us about how the other party is liable for the injuries.

The legal system can feel foreign and frightening. Each step of the way, we keep clients updated so that they feel confident to make educated decisions about bringing the case into Court or into mediation. Our very capable staff – including a nurse paralegal – assist along the way, but clients are never just handed off to staff members. We expect to receive many questions and updates from our clients, who always have access to the lead attorney handling their case.

With our representation, our clients have achieved excellent outcomes in their personal injury matters. Recent settlements include cases involving:

• Severe and career-ending concussion caused by a motor vehicle crash after another driver ran a stop sign.
• Death of pedestrian struck by an inattentive driver on a country road.
• Imprisonment of a child as a result of negligent conduct of state actors.
• Serious leg fracture due to untreated ice in an unlit hotel parking lot without any warning signs.
• Scalp burn, permanent hair loss, and scarring when a salon improperly used a defective product.
• Death of an infant due to neglect of multiple parties including the state’s child protection agency.
• Concussion and facial injuries when another driver drove into our client’s parked truck while he was clearing ice from the windshield.
• Death of bicyclist struck by an inattentive driver and an illegally parked delivery vehicle.
• Significant neck injury in a highway collision caused by an inattentive tractor-trailer driver who failed to slow down for traffic.
• Head and other injuries suffered by a pedestrian who was struck by a car backing out of a parking spot without looking.
• Assault of minority patron outside of a local restaurant.
• Illegal discrimination against a business owner by a police department.
• Multiple severe injuries requiring extensive rehabilitation caused by a drunk driver and the bar that overserved him.
• Significant burns to a young child.
• Neck, back, and thumb injuries caused in a crash when another driver fell asleep at the wheel.
• Concussion caused by a negligent driver who struck another vehicle in a parking lot.
• Worsening of serious medical condition and neck injury caused by chain reaction highway collision.
• Severe hand fracture due to premises that was not properly maintained.

When our clients are not satisfied by the amounts offered by negligent parties or their insurers, we have no hesitation to bring personal injury claims to Trial. We practice in all eleven New Hampshire Superior Courts and New Hampshire’s Federal Court and have achieved significant awards on behalf of clients in settlement, arbitration, and court.