Metropolitan News-Enterprise reports a trial court erred in removing plaintiffs’ medical malpractice expert witness in a trial on the basis that defense counsel’s representation of the doctor 10 years earlier created an irreconcilable conflict of interest, the Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled on July 16th.
Div. Three said prophylactic removal was unnecessary where the expert waived any conflict arising out of the previous representation, so long as that waiver was unequivocal.
Orange Superior Court Commissioner Janet C. Pesak disqualified board-certified plastic surgeon John M. Shamoun from testifying against physician Mark Knight in a suit over a liposuction he performed on Laura Montgomery. Montgomery sued Knight in 2007, alleging she was injured by the procedure, and her husband, Douglas, brought a claim for loss of consortium.