Am I Boring You?

It was the summer of 1991.  I had been practicing law for 10 years and working for a plaintiff’s medical malpractice firm the entire time.  On the day in question I found myself sitting in the conference room of a law firm that was in-house counsel to one of the major insurance carriers for doctors in our state.  I was representing the plaintiff at the non-party deposition of a neurosurgeon. 

            The case involved a woman who was 8 months pregnant when she was involved in a serious automobile accident.  She was taken by ambulance to the Emergency Room of a local community hospital where she was evaluated by physicians of several different medical specialties.  The lawsuit was against the Obstetrician who attended to her in the Emergency Room and admitted her to the hospital and against the hospital.  The Obstetrician had ordered that an electronic fetal heart monitor be connected, but did not require that she be transferred to the Labor and Delivery suite of the hospital.  As the electronic fetal heart monitor tracings clearly demonstrated, the baby became increasingly distressed by what proved to be an occult placental abruption (the placenta separated from the uterine wall depriving the baby of oxygen).  The problem was that the nurses in the Emergency Department were not trained to interpret the tracings, and did not recognize a problem or call for help until the mother’s blood pressure dropped.  When the doctor was called she did not want to come in because she was packing to leave on a trip to her native country the next day to visit her husband.
               The baby was born with completely avoidable profound brain damage due to the lack of oxygen.

            The attorneys for the Obstetrician had served a subpoena on a Neurosurgeon who evaluated the woman in the emergency room for head trauma.  As the attorney asked ridiculous questions about why the Neurosurgeon had not noticed the abnormalities on the tracing, I found myself looking out the conference room window, bored mindless by the proceedings.  I suddenly realized that in ten years, I could not recall the last time I had been present at the deposition of a physician where someone other than myself asked the questions.  Immediately after that realization I was overcome by curiosity and chagrin.  Was it possible, I wondered, that when I am questioning a doctor, the other attorneys are as bored as I am now?

            It was not until January of 2009 that my question was finally answered.  I had just commenced an association with a new firm on the 5^th of the month by selecting a jury on a case that settled during trial.  Now it was the 20^th – inauguration day.  I

was in the office of a law firm who represented an Obstetrician in a case where it was claimed that negligence during the labor and delivery had resulted in paralysis of the child’s arm.

            An attorney for a co-defendant showed up at the deposition with a laptop computer and advised all of those in attendance that she intended to use the computer to watch the inauguration speech of the new President and would take a break during the proceedings for that purpose.

            Fortunately for us, she was unable to obtain a video feed with the internet connection in the office.  She did take a short break to listen to a radio broadcast on a radio at the reception desk, but there was so much static that the rest of us agreed to return to the conference room and resume the deposition.

            At one point during my questioning, I glance over at the young lady’s computer screen.  SHE WAS SHOPPING FOR SHOES!

            During a break, I learned that she was soon to be married for a second time and was shopping for shoes and for favors to give the members of her wedding party.

            Now I know.