On Saturday, August 31^st, Friedl Richardson was named one of the Top Ten Plaintiff's Verdict Winners for the year of 2012. Awarded by the State Bar of Arizona and featured in the Arizona Attorney Magazine, the firm's recognition comes from the Brenda Busch et al. v Vishal Singh, Derek Von Haag and Kenneth Prebil et. al. case, which resulted in a $6 million award.

Friedl Richardson represented the daughters of J. Hudson who lost his life 6 days after having quadruple bypass surgery at Banner Thunderbird Medical Center on February 20, 2006. The case, which was held in a Maricopa County Superior Court, addressed the tension hemothorax that Hudson developed in his left lung, with bleeding from the left internal mammary artery, which resulted in his death from cardiopulmonary arrest only six days after surgery.

As contended by Hudson's daughters, Surgeons D. Von Haag and K. Prebil, along with Internist V. Singh, were slow in their response, diagnosis, and treatment of Hudson's bleeding, which should have been noticed when the patient's vital signs quickly started to deteriorate. At the time of his death, Hudson's daughters – ages 13 and 15 – were placed in state custody and forced to live in a group home where they allegedly experienced ongoing emotional issues.

Prebil, one of the acting surgeons involved in the case, claimed that he was in fact present for the evaluation of any potential abdominal problems, but was not present to evaluate Hudson's chest problems. Co-Surgeon Von Haag and Internist Singh both denied any negligence in the death of Hudson, instead arguing that they were not responsible for the patient's heart disease. The medical professionals also alleged that they were not responsible for the hemorrhage that occurred after Hudson's operation.

Represented by Friedl Richardson, each of Hudson's daughters were awarded $3 million. The jury broke down fault in the case as follows:

• 44% at fault: Internist Singh
• 41% at fault: Banner Thunderbird Medical Center
• 15% at fault: Surgeon Von Haag
• 0% at fault: Surgeon Prebil

At Friedl Richardson, our Phoenix personal injury law practice is founded upon quality representation that is invested in the future of our clients. The ethical standards of practice that were applied to the case depicted above are the same as those that we use to address every case we handle. We pride ourselves on being a quality law firm that our community can trust, and we are honored to have yielded one of the top ten verdicts in the state for 2012.