Gould Cooksey Fennell, P.A.

Broken Needle Left Inside Patient Results in $915,000

newsletter Attorney
Verdict in Summary Jury Trial Proceeding
When GCF’s client was discharged obtained an infection as a result. A body when she left the hospital.
Spotlight
from a hospital after a routine surgical review of the patient’s records not GCF’s Christopher Marine chairs
A Summary Jury Trial (SJT) was the firm’s Real Property Group and its
procedure, she expected to make a only revealed that the needle had been
ordered by the Court to issue an advisory Finance & Institutional Lending Group.
speedy recovery. Instead she spent left behind during the initial surgery,
ruling on the case being prosecuted by Mr. Marine is a lifelong Vero Beach
months battling unexplained pelvic but that both the doctor and hospital
David M. Carter and Jason L. Odom resident, and has practiced law in our
pain. She returned to the doctor administrators knew it was inside her
who performed the surgery and to of GCF’s Trial Team. On Nov. 10th
community for 27 years. His primary
the hospital where the surgery was the jury selected jointly by the parties
practice emphasis is transactional real estate, development
performed on numerous occasions, each returned a verdict against both the
and land use, and representative projects include Palm Island
time without an answer as to what was doctor and the hospital and awarded
Plantation, Indian River Club, Marsh Island and The Fountains
causing her symptoms. Eventually, her GCF’s client $915,000. The SJT process
medical office complex. In October, Mr. Marine successfully
family doctor became concerned about is utilized by the Court as a method to
facilitate settlement without the cost of a completed a large expansion of the County Urban Services
the unexplained pain and ordered a CT Area at S.R. 60 and I-95 on behalf of multiple owners. This
Scan, which revealed a 1.5 centimeter complete trial. However, the result is not
binding, and if no resolution is reached resulted in a change in the Land Use designation of 575 acres of
broken suture needle approximately property from agricultural to Commercial/Industrial, thereby
two millimeters from her bladder. The between the parties, GCF attorneys will
present this case to a jury in a full trial permitting former ranch and citrus grove lands to support
patient required an open abdominal A CT scan showing the broken suture
needle left behind during surgery. early next year. development of large-scale research facilities and related uses.
procedure to remove the needle and
Mr. Marine also has a significant practice emphasis
in mitigation and conservation banking. He is presently
The Estate Planning and Tax Group is currently providing fiduciaries of participating in the organization of wetlands mitigation banks
trusts and estates of decedents that died in 2010 with advice in connection with the unusual issues arising from the current in Indian River, Brevard and Volusia Counties. Mr. Marine is
repeal of the federal estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes. These issues include the interpretation of dispositive “AV” rated by Martindale-Hubbell. He currently serves on
provisions of wills and trusts that use tax-planning formulas, the determination of the historical tax basis of the decedent’s the Advisory Board of the Indian River Land Trust, and he
property, and the possible allocation of basis adjustments permitted only for deaths occurring this year, as well as the is Chairman of the Indian River County Board of Zoning
possible retroactive reinstatement of the estate and generation-skipping transfer tax. Adjustment/Appeal.

772.231.1100 ▪ 979 Beachland Boulevard ▪ Vero Beach, FL 32963 ▪ www.gouldcooksey.com

 PRESORTED
▪ Christopher H. Marine of GCF’s Real Property Group represents the Citrus FIRST CLASS MAIL
U.S. POSTAGE
Grillhouse, an upscale American bistro restaurant on Vero Beach’s oceanfront
PAID
that was recently named Best New Restaurant in the State of Florida by Florida
979 Beachland Boulevard VERO BEACH, FL
Monthly magazine. Mr. Marine coordinated both the private investment offering Vero Beach, FL 32963 PERMIT NO. 36
and acquisition of the commercial condominium property on behalf of the
Citrus Grillhouse investors.

▪ Jason Odom was recently appointed by Supreme Court Justice R. Fred Lewis
to the Supreme Court of Florida’s Commission on Professionalism. The
Commission serves as a steering and long-range planning commission for the
creation and implementation of programs promoting the ideals and goals of
professionalism. In addition to providing input, guidance and approval for the
creation and implementation of professionalism programs and seminars, the
commission oversees the development of judicial professionalism programs
and the promoting of professionalism in law schools.

▪ GCF’s Real Property Group represents

numerous clients engaged in the
acquisition and sale of waterfront
estates on the ocean and the Indian
River. These transactions often
present unique issues and challenges
that require creative, individualized
legal solutions to meet client needs.
Successfully completed transactions
in the last year aggregate over $51M facebook.com/gouldcooksey
dollars in total value. DAVID M. CARTER ■ BRIAN J. CONNELLY ■ BYRON T. COOKSEY ■ TODD W. FENNELL
Anthony P. Guettler ■ TROY B. HAFNER ■ WILLIAM N. KIRK ■ CHRISTOPHER H. MARINE
JASON L. ODOM ■ EUGENE J. O’NEILL ■ Christopher K. Pegg ■ SANDRA G. RENNICK