Arslan S. Umarov

Arslan Umarov represents New Mexico patients and families harmed by medical negligence. Medical malpractice is the only kind of case he handles.

He has worked on the other side. Before joining the James Wood Law Firm in 2019, Arslan spent three years at an insurance defense firm defending professional liability and bodily injury claims, and three years at a firm that served as general counsel to a regional medical center. Earlier, he worked on Affordable Care Act insurance exchange regulations at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. He uses that experience to anticipate how hospitals, physicians, and their insurers will defend a case.

Arslan has argued and won before the New Mexico Supreme Court and has recovered more than $32 million for clients. Every case turns on its own facts and law, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

His reason for this work is personal. In 2005, his father, Sanjar Umarov, spoke out against the Andijan massacre and the lack of freedom in Uzbekistan, and the Karimov regime imprisoned him. At 21, Arslan co-founded a nonprofit for human rights and economic reform in Central Asia and, with his family, rallied members of Congress, including Senator John McCain and Representative Tom Lantos, along with human rights organizations and journalists, to call for his father’s release. Four years later, his father was freed and joined the family in the United States. Many others were not.

That campaign taught Arslan what it takes for one family to be heard by a powerful institution that would rather it stay quiet. He started law school before it ended, and he now does that work for families taking on hospitals and insurers.

Arslan earned his J.D. from Texas Tech University School of Law, where he received the Jurisprudence Award for Superior Academic Achievement in Human Rights, and a B.B.A. in International Business, cum laude, from the University of Memphis. He completed NITA’s Advanced Trial Skills program and tries cases alongside James Wood, whose mentorship shaped how he presents a case to a jury. He has been licensed in New Mexico since 2013 and is also licensed in Arizona.

Arslan lives in Albuquerque with his wife and two daughters. He speaks English and Russian.

If you believe a medical error harmed you or someone you love, contact Arslan through this profile. He will listen, review what happened, and tell you honestly whether you have a case.