Mark A. Abramson

 

Email  abramson@arbd.com

Born  Dallas, Texas, July 3, 1949

College  Baldwin-Wallace College, B.A., 1971

Law School  University of Toledo, J.D., 1975

 

Question & Answer

Q: You were born in Dallas, grew up in Boston, and graduated from Baldwin-Wallace College in Ohio.  After graduating from the University of Toledo Law School, you moved to NH and began practicing law.  How did you choose New Hampshire?

A: Other than being in school and the military, I have spent my entire life in New England. New Hampshire was a wonderful, clean and healthy environment to raise my family. I have never regretted that decision, not even for a second.

Q: For most of your legal career you’ve focused primarily on medical malpractice cases.  Why?  

A: A close family member was malpracticed and I have personally observed the toll it takes on an entire family, not just on the victim. It gives me great pleasure to lead the charge in the battle against large, well financed medical care providers who seem to care more for the bottom line than to do right by the mothers, fathers, spouses, and children who are damaged forever from sloppy medical care.

Q: A few years ago, you got a lot of media attention for handling some of the priest abuse cases in NH?  How did you start working with survivors of priest abuse?  Why did you stop?

A: I represented 85 men and 1 woman who were all terribly harmed by criminals dressed and ordained as priests. It all started when I received a call from a lawyer asking if I would speak to 1 of 5 brothers who was raped by a priest repeatedly. I became deeply involved in uncovering what clearly had been a coverup by the church, and individually and personally represented every one of these victims until we received what we considered adequate compensation for the unthinkable acts that were committed against them.

Q: When you’re not in a courtroom, what do you like to do?

A: When not in a courtroom, I spend my time with my family, traveling, playing sports, reading and following the Celtics, Patriots and Red Sox.

Q: How would you answer those who say that medical malpractice lawyers are making it harder for doctors to practice medicine and more expensive for patients to receive good medical treatment?

A: I really do not listen to doctors complain about malpractice lawsuits. I have had doctors asking me, in the past, about how to reduce the number of malpractice suits and my answer was simple....just reduce the amount of malpractice. Everyone of us has to answer when we don't live up to appropriate standards, and doctors are not exempt from these same standards. If you saw the acts of malpractice that we see on a near daily basis, you would be stunned.

Q: In terms of how it impacted your client, what has been your most significant victory?

A: It is impossible to pick out our most significant victory, but several cases make me feel a good sense of accomplishment. We represented 6 different families against a single neurosurgeon who was responsible for the deaths of 3 people and severe damage to 3 others because of his ineptitude. We were instrumental in having him removed from the practice of medicine in NH so he could no longer hurt anyone here. Another wonderful experience was representing a young woman in northern NH in a failure to diagnose breast cancer case in which the jury returned a multimillion dollar verdict despite the doctor never having made a single offer to try and settle the case. We have represented so many families whose lives were altered by the failures of obgyn's and family practice physicians who did not adequately attend to pregnant patients, resulting in the severe brain injury and/or death to their children. The list is sadly, a long and catastrophic one. It is unfortunate that the public does not get to see these cases when medical care providers do their best to limit the rights of malpractice victims. 

Q: You’ve been representing clients and fighting for their rights for 35 years now, how would like to be remembered professionally?

A: I would like to be remembered after I retire some day as an honest lawyer for the victims of medical malpractice who gave every ounce of fight available to him, who remained friends with most of his clients for years, and even decades after their cases were completed.

Membership

Manchester, New Hampshire (Member: Medical Malpractice and Products Liability Committee, 1982-1983; Ethics Committee, 1988-1989) and American Bar Associations; The American Association for Justice formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (Sustaining Member, Professional Negligence Section, Birth Trauma Litigation Group); New Hampshire Association for Justice formerly known as the New Hampshire Trial Lawyers Association (Member, Board of Governors, 1984-1987 and 1997-2001); American College of Trial Lawyers; 2010 Best Lawyers.

Practice Areas

Medical Malpractice; Plaintiff's Personal Injury

Admissions

1975, New Hampshire

Publications

• Medical Provider Liability to Non-Patient Third-Parties for Negligent Medical Care and Prescribing Practices
• UPDATE: Application of the Collateral Source Rule to Written Off or Reduced Medical Expenses
• Medical Malpractice Liability in the Information Age - The Evolution of the Physician-Patient Relationship on the New Healthcare Frontier
• Medical Malpractice Litigation and the New Hampshire Good Samaritan Statute
• Medical Malpractice Claims Against Public Health Service And Federally Funded Community Health Center Physicians: Practical Problems And Potential Pitfalls To Be Aware Of
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• Dispelling the Myths of the Medical Malpractice Crisis and Vindicating the Victims of Medical Malpractice through Attorney Conducted Voir Dire
• New Hampshire’s Medical Malpractice Screening Panel Statute: Constitutional Considerations
• Pure Referral Fees: Insuring Client Confidence in Complex Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice Cases: Why Proposed Professional Conduct Rule 1.5(F) Alternative 2 Should be Adopted
• Vicarious Liability in Action–Holding a Hospital Liable for the Malpractice of its Independent Anesthesiology Group
• Apportioning Fault to Settling Defendants Under Nilsson v. Biermann: Constitutional Considerations
• The Current Status of Loss of Opportunity Claims in New Hampshire Medical Malpractice Litigation
• The New Expert Reliability And Expert Disclosure Rules: What Does R.S.A. 516:29 Require And Is It Constitutional?
• Desclos v. Southern New Hampshire Medical Center: Personal Injury And Medical Malpractice Victims Receive New Protections Against Oppressive Discovery Tactics
• Protecting Privilege and Precluding Bad Doctors From the “Bad Genes” Defense: The Non-Discoverable Nature of Medical Records of Related Third-Parties in Medical Malpractice Cases
• Holding Hospitals Vicariously Liable for the Malpractice of Independent Contractor Physicians
• Res Ipsa Loquitur and Medical Malpractice
• Discovery in New Hampshire's Federal District Court: Play By The Rules Or Else
• The New Amendment to New Hampshire's Quality Assurance Privileges: Ensuring Substantially Broader Access to Factual Information in Medical Negligence Cases
• Temporary Employees and the Borrowed Servant Rule: A Case Study
• Payback: Health Insurance Liens in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Cases After Great-West Life & Annuity v. Knudson
• Book Review: Medical Malpractice and the American Jury by Neil Vidmar
• Discovery Abuse in New Hampshire: What Happens When the Honor System Fails
• Discovery Abuse Part II: Baseless Assertion of Privileges
• HMO Liability: Building Corporate Profits at the Expense of Patient Care
• HMO Liability Part II: ERISA Preemption and the Saga of Corporate Greed Continues
• HMO Liability Part III: Return of the Plaintiffs
• HMO Liability Part IV: Protecting the Patient and Preserving States' Rights
• The Law of Nursing Malpractice
• Minimizing Liens and Maximizing Personal Injury Recoveries
• Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress in Medical Negligence Cases
• Birth Injury and Cerebral Palsy Malpractice Claims
• Recent Developments in New Hampshire Medical Malpractice Law
• Overcoming the Quality Assurance Privilege in New Hampshire Medical Malpractice Claims
• Handling the Failure To Diagnose Breast Cancer Malpractice Case
• Sidestepping the Repeal of Joint and Several Liability - A Case Study