Benjamin Ray Novotny

This attorney's firm accepted my medical mal case for failure to diagnose rectal cancer. They sent it to two malpractice experts, who both recommended it go forward. I and another family member was told that the case had already been filed in Superior Court. I became suspicious when after several mo...nths I did not get requested copy of pleadings. In response, Atty Novotny, lead trial counsel, called me--for 1st time ever. He said that he had reservations about the case. He essentially blamed me for not following up with a specific GI doctor. Clearly Atty Novotny did not read the file because the same docs he stated I blew off were the ones that had refused the referral from my primary care doctor. They would not accept a new referral & would not book a referral appt. This was IN WRITING and faxed in response to referral by my primary care doctor. Every time I personally tried to make an appt I was told that I was released back to my primary care MDs care. So how was I negligent when they stated I did not need a specialist? I wasn't. In reality, Novotny changed his mind after 16 months for another reason. Novotny hadn't yet contacted their co-counsel in NH. When he did, they informed him they had a conflict because one of their expert witnesses was one of the docs I was suing. (The NH firm told me about conflict when I tried to hire them) He also said that NH has mandatory medical malpractice tribunals & attys end up trying the case twice, & he was" not up for all that." He could have worked around conflict by getting other NH counsel but stated it was too expensive. Most of all, I am shocked that Atty Novotny never allowed me the courtesy of a face to face meeting. This man had no empathy and tried to blame the victim. I would accept blame if I did not have a fax from same docs saying my primary care could handle it & refusing to make appt (Novotny blamed me for not getting a colonoscopy yet docs denied referral & further stated that since I had one in 2005, I did not need another in 2010.) Atty Novotny either did not know the facts or did not care to straighten them out. He also stated my case was too small in $ value for him to deal with a NH tribunal. Again, I would have had no problem with this had he told me 16 months earlier & not had told me that the case was actually filed when it was not. There is a clause in their retainer agreement that allows the client to pay going forward--they did not honor that. I was simply given the bum's rush and told not to contact them further. I suggest Atty Novotny learn the golden rule. They retained a law firm to hide behind (other former clients report same treatment -- Avvo contact me for sites if any question as to integrity of this claim pls) Atty Novotny caused me a lot of emotional distress by blaming me & having facts wrong, yet not allowing me to ask why they lied about case being filed for many months. Had Atty Novotny expressed any willingness to sit down and explain things to me, or refer me to other counsel before the SOL ran out, I would not feel this way. Mistakes happen but this was calculated to twist the facts around on their own clients & make me feel responsible for life threatening illness. He prejudiced the ability of a Stage 3B cancer patient to successfully bring a case and get compensation because it was not worth his time, and "tribunals are a pain". He failed to acknowledge the refusal of the doctors to see me & twisted it into it being my fault ( docs told me he is wrong). Atty Novotny did not keep his commitments, misrepresented the status of a case, and failed to keep me informed. Rather, he blindsided me with factual inaccuracies & arrogant refusal to deal with NH's tribunals. This 16 months has forever prejudiced my ability file case in timely fashion. If there was a conflict he should have helped refer case to another firm. Cruel, misleading and arrogant. I would swear to the accuracy of these allegations in a court of law.