Dissecting the Medical Malpractice Case: Records, Depositions, & Experts

Meryl Poulin | Gideon Asen LLC

Meryl is a trial lawyer who is defined by her competitiveness and commitment to her clients. She understands that those are the two most valuable qualities in a lawyer whose job is to stand up in a courtroom and fight for individuals who have been harmed by the carelessness of others. She specializes in representing individuals harmed by medical malpractice.

One of the greatest rewards of this work is seeing the depth of the human spirit her clients possess. There is something special about a person who chooses to stand up and fight when they have been wronged.

Meryl’s representation style is one that is client focused. She enjoys getting to know her clients far above and beyond the harms they have endured. She considers it essential to providing the best representation to her clients.

Meryl believes that the best lawyers are the ones who are willing to take risks. Gideon Asen’s mission is to serve its clients not just through hard work and superior strategy, but by taking calculated risks to maximize results

Meryl is included in Best Lawyers – Ones to Watch for her expertise in Plaintiff’s Medical Malpractice Law, Personal Injury Litigation, and Product Liability Litigation, and in Super Lawyers Rising Stars; these designations are given to attorneys that distinguish themselves during their first decade of practice.

Trevor Savage | Gideon Asen LLC

Trevor is a skilled trial attorney who represents clients in claims involving medical malpractice, wrongful deaths and other complex personal injury cases.

After completing a clerkship with the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, Trevor began his career at a large firm in Portland, representing medical providers, businesses, and insurance companies.

Trevor’s experience as a defense attorney gives him a unique perspective that he uses to give Gideon Asen’s clients an advantage during litigation with insurance companies.

A native of Maine, Trevor is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, and then the University of Maine School of Law. At Maine Law, he served as Managing Editor of the Maine Law Review and as a legal writing teaching assistant for first-year students.

During law school—alongside his then-classmate and current colleague, Meryl Poulin—he distinguished himself as one of two “Prize Arguers” of their class and argued before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. He and Meryl Poulin—another Gideon Asen attorney—later competed nationally as teammates on the Maine Law Moot Court Team, finishing in the top three of a competition of more than forty teams.

While at law school, Trevor interned with the Appellate Division of the United States Attorney’s Office and then with Judge Kermit V. Lipez of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. He also worked as a Student Attorney at the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office (winning his first two jury trials as a second-year law student).

Trevor lives in North Berwick, Maine, with his wife, Amy, and two children, Jacob and Will.

I. Mastering the medical records in medical malpractice cases | 1:00pm – 1:30pm

• Requesting medical records
• Common errors and inconsistencies in electronic medical records
• Strategies for leveraging metadata to support or refute claims
• Best practices for mining the record and making effective use of it in the courtroom
• Discovery beyond the medical record

II. Depositions of health care providers | 1:30pm – 2:00pm

• Key challenges physicians face during depositions
• The importance of knowing the medicine
• Effective techniques for questioning and cross-examining medical professionals
• Recognizing and addressing potential vulnerabilities in testimony
• Case studies highlighting successful defense strategies for physicians

Break | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

III. Utilizing expert witnesses in medical malpractice litigation | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

• Criteria for selecting credible and effective expert witnesses
• Common categories of medical malpractice cases and the types of experts required to support them
• Establishing the standard of care through expert testimony
• Communicating complex medical concepts to a non-medical audience
• Handling cross-examination of expert witnesses to strengthen your case