Woman Claims Her Law Firm Coerced Her into Settling Her Pelvic Mesh Case

This story from the West Virginia Record says a woman claims her law firm coerced her into settling her pelvic mesh case.

The woman is Danna Morrison and she filed a malpractice lawsuit in May against the Athens, Georgia law firm of Blasingame, Burch, Garrard & Ashley.

Morrison received a pelvic mesh implant and after seeing a television ad, called the law firm for representation. She signed with Blasingame in October 2011.

By 2015, the law firm advised her to accept a settlement of $325,000. That is the amount before legal fees are subtracted, along with any liens against her which could be money paid for surgery, loans, to reimburse insurance and Medicaid and for legal expenses and a 5% payment into the common benefit fund, which benefits all lawyers in this multidistrict litigation. Morrison had filed bankruptcy after signing with Blasinglame so the bankruptcy trustee also had to be notified of the settlement and reimbursed some expenses.

Most women are finding after expenses their take home is half or less.

Morrison just said "No."  She felt her case was worth much more.

While trials in this multidistrict litigation and in state courts have yielded verdicts in the millions, they are always appealed. They take years to resolve. On the other hand, settlements make dollars available sooner.  The problem is you will likely not reach the seven-figure numbers that a trial can yield.  (Remember, a trial is a crap shoot. There are no guarantees a trial will end up in favor of the plaintiff, though in this MDL it frequently does.

See MND list of Trials so FAr.

The basis of his malpractice claim is that the law firm made misrepresentations to her. One of them- that if she rejected the settlement offer, the bankruptcy trustee would go ahead and accept the offer for her.  If she refused the offer, the trustee would settle the case and she would "lose everything" she was allegedly told, and she would never be eligible for a trial.

Settling means the law firm received its 40% fee and it had a substantial interest in forcing her to settle.

Morrison says this amounts to professional negligence, a breach of contractual duties of duty and good faith and fiduciary duties.

Morrison has hired Michael E. Richardson of Tidwell, Izell and Richardson of Chattanooga, TN.

the Blasingame law firm filed a motion October 30 to have the case dismissed.

The case is filed in the U.S> District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia No. 2:17-cv-04133. ##