Attorney Phil Michels's Legal Cases

Medical malpractice

Resulted in $5.1 Million Settlement - Hospital Negligence Results in Multiple Unnecessary Transplants for Newborn

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OUTCOME: 5.1 million

Michels & Watkins represented a newborn boy in an action against a Southern California hospital that had misdiagnosed the obstruction of the baby's digestive tract, resulting in an unnecessary transpla ... nt of the small bowel, pancreas and liver. This was a significant issue because of the high risk of rejection of the infant's transplanted small bowel and pancreas.

Brain injury

Resulted in $8.15 Million Settlement - Newborn Left With Severe Brain Damage Due to Hospital Negligence

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OUTCOME: 8.15 million

Michels & Watkins represented a newborn twin who suffered severe brain damage due to medical malpractice. For approximately 70 hours, the hospital attempted to induce labor in the mother, despite her r ... equest for a Cesarean section and clinical indications that one of the twins was in significant distress. When the C-section was finally performed, one twin was left severely brain damaged with a life expectancy of 10 to 20 years.

Medical malpractice

Resulted in $5 Million Settlement - Woman Left with Cognitive Impairment Due to Hospital Negligence

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OUTCOME: 5 million

A five-month-pregnant woman was taken to a hospital emergency room complaining of vaginal bleeding and being unable to feel the fetus move. Despite significant blood loss, nurses gave assurances that a ... ll was well. A short time later, the patient delivered a dead fetus, her condition worsened, and she stopped breathing. When intubating the patient, several errors occurred, leaving her with some cognitive impairment.

Brain injury

Resulted in $5.5 Million Settlement - Medical Complications Leave Baby With Irreversible Brain Damage

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OUTCOME: 5.5 million

Michels & Watkins obtained a substantial settlement from a Los Angeles-area hospital for causing medical complications following the normal birth of a healthy male infant. The hospital's protocols did ... not follow the guidelines set out by the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the baby developed severe hyperbilirubinemia and kernicterus. He suffered irreversible brain damage and is expected to live only to into teens.

Medical malpractice

Resulted in $10 Million Settlement - Hospital Negligence Results in Cardiac Arrest with Death

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OUTCOME: 10 million

A 42-year-old man went to a hospital emergency room complaining of neck pain and was evaluated only by a physician assistant; not a doctor given medication and discharged. The next day, he developed re ... spiratory distress and was taken to a hospital ICU by ambulance. He went into cardiac arrest and died from strep sepsis, a condition indicating the presence of microorganisms in the tissue or bloodstream.

Medical malpractice

Resulted in $6.8 Million Settlement - Inexperienced Surgeon's Mistake Leaves Child Dependant on Ventilator

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OUTCOME: 6.8 million

Michels & Watkins represented a baby born prematurely with congenital heart disease and other malformations. When the baby underwent heart surgery at about one year of age, a red birthmark discovered s ... oon after birth became inflamed and proved to be a benign cyst. An inexperienced neurosurgeon rather than a specialized thoracic surgeon performed the operation to remove the benign cyst and mistakenly cut the trachea and esophagus. Three years later, the child still has a tube in its trachea and depends on a ventilator to breathe.

Personal injury

Death by Drowning Due to School District and Health Care Provider Negligence

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OUTCOME:

Michels & Watkins represented the parents of a boy who drowned in his high school's swimming pool during a regularly scheduled P.E. class. Health care providers, who had treated the 17-year-old for a s ... eizure disorder and related conditions, were negligent in failing to provide proper advice on his supervision. Further, although the boy's condition was well known to the district, school personnel neglected to provide constant, one-on-one observation and periodic Individual Education Programs required by law to assess his special needs. The case is ongoing.

Medical malpractice

Resulted in $5.5 Million Settlement - Numerous Attempts at Vacuum-Assisted Delivery Delays Emergency C-Section

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OUTCOME: 5.5 million

After a prolonged labor which did not result in timely vaginal delivery, and despite worsening fetal status as reflected in the deteriorating fetal heart monitor strips, this patient's OBGyn doctor ele ... cted to try to deliver the baby by use of a vacuum cup attached to the baby's head. Three attempts were made trying to pull the baby from the uterus using vacuum extractor, all of which failed. During this time, the baby's heart rate continued to decline and she suffered a severe lack of oxygen. Finally, the decision was made to perform an emergency c-section. This baby girl suffers from spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, microcephaly, and severe mental retardation. The court rejected defendants' efforts to compel arbitration.

Brain injury

Resulted in $3.5 Million Settlement - Six-Year-Olds Tumor Worsens Due to Doctor Negligence

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OUTCOME: 3.5 million

When a six-year-old girl started to develop breasts and pubic hair, her pediatrician ordered a CT scan of her brain. The CT scan was read by a doctor-in-training as normal. Michels & Watkins had the CT ... scan read by the chief of pediatric-neuroradiology at a major hospital in Los Angeles who indicated an "obvious" tumor in the brain. If the tumor had been diagnosed earlier, it would have been treatable. Michels & Watkins received the highest settlement ever paid in Riverside County at that time for this type of injury.

Personal injury

Verdict of $4.25 Million - 15-Year-Old Drowns Due to Inattentive School's Lifeguard

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OUTCOME: 4.25 million

Michels & Watkins represented the parents of a 15-year-old boy who drowned due to the negligence of a school's lifeguards and teachers. The lifeguard was inattentive and allowed too many children in th ... e pool, and the drowning of the 15-year-old boy went unnoticed. He went into a coma and died shortly after. Michels & Watkins obtained the highest child-death verdict in the history of California at the time for $4.25 million. The verdict was 10 times the pretrial offer. The case resulted in new rules at the school to improve the safety of student swimming.

Phil Michels's Legal Cases (10)

Resulted in $5.1 Million Settlement - Hospital Negligence Results in Multiple Unnecessary Transplants for Newborn

Resulted in $8.15 Million Settlement - Newborn Left With Severe Brain Damage Due to Hospital Negligence

Resulted in $5 Million Settlement - Woman Left with Cognitive Impairment Due to Hospital Negligence

Resulted in $5.5 Million Settlement - Medical Complications Leave Baby With Irreversible Brain Damage

Resulted in $10 Million Settlement - Hospital Negligence Results in Cardiac Arrest with Death

Resulted in $6.8 Million Settlement - Inexperienced Surgeon's Mistake Leaves Child Dependant on Ventilator

Death by Drowning Due to School District and Health Care Provider Negligence

Resulted in $5.5 Million Settlement - Numerous Attempts at Vacuum-Assisted Delivery Delays Emergency C-Section

Resulted in $3.5 Million Settlement - Six-Year-Olds Tumor Worsens Due to Doctor Negligence

Verdict of $4.25 Million - 15-Year-Old Drowns Due to Inattentive School's Lifeguard