GTP CLASSIC | Robin Frazer Clark | Marshall Fox, Individually and as Administrator of the Estate of Jayne B. Fox v. Emory Healthcare, Inc., The Emory Clinic, Inc., et. al. | $2.35 million verdict

This week we’re replaying a classic GTP episode where your hosts Steve Lowry and Yvonne Godfrey interview Robin Frazer Clark of The Law Firm of Robin Frazer Clark, P.C. (https://www.gatriallawyers.net/)

 

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Episode Details:

Former State Bar of Georgia President Robin Frazer Clark explains how she secured justice for the only son of 75-year-old Jayne Fox, a woman who suffered a traumatic vocal cord injury during intubation for a lung biopsy, causing Jayne to suffer post-surgical aspiration pneumonia and leading to her death. Admitted to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta for a biopsy of a spot on her lung, Jayne was initially intubated with equipment that was much too large for her petite 97 lb., 5-foot frame. Following the surgery, nurses observed Jayne having difficulty clearing secretions, and an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist found abnormalities indicating aspiration pneumonia.  However, the ENT and nurses failed to report their observations to the attending physician, Dr. Roy Rajan, who also failed to properly supervise Jayne’s medical care or visit her in person. As a result, Jayne's treatment plan was not adjusted to treat her condition, and she passed away at Emory University Hospital nearly six weeks after her surgery. Despite the defense's attempts to blame Jayne's age, her son and the rarity of her post-operation condition, a Dekalb County, Georgia jury returned a verdict of $2,350,000 in damages against Emory Clinic and Dr. Rajan.

 

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Guest Bio:

Robin Frazer Clark

Robin Frazer Clark is the owner and founder of the law firm of Robin Frazer Clark, P.C., and has practiced law in Georgia for 31 years. Ms. Clark devotes her practice exclusively to plaintiff’s personal injury.  Her motto is “A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats.” She is the Co-host of the podcast “See You In Court.” 

Ms. Clark was sworn in as the Fiftieth President of the State Bar of Georgia on June 2, 2012, only the second woman ever to serve as President of the State Bar of Georgia and served as President of the 45,000-member association in 2012-2013.  One of Ms. Clark’s initiatives she created while President is the State Bar of Georgia’s Suicide Prevention Campaign, “How to Save a Life.”   Ms. Clark is a Past President of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association (GTLA), also only the second woman in the organization’s history to lead GTLA.  Ms. Clark is a Past President of The Lawyers Club of Atlanta (LCA), in which she has been a member for over 25 years. Ms. Clark is the only person ever to have served as President of all three of those professional associations, the State Bar of Georgia, GTLA and Lawyers Club of Atlanta.  Ms. Clark is a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers (ISOB) whose membership is by invitation only and which is dedicated to the preservation of trial by jury, the adversary system and an independent judiciary. ISOB founders conceived the organization to bring together the best of the trial bar in a setting devoid of partisan interests. Ms. Clark also serves on the Board of Directors of the ISOB Foundation.  Ms. Clark is an Associate of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), a National professional association dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the right to trial by jury as guaranteed by the 7th Amendment to the United States Constitution. 

Ms. Clark is also a member of the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers (GAWL), and a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America (LCA), a trial lawyer honorary society composed of less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers. She is a Past Chair of the Atlanta Bar Association Litigation Section.  Ms. Clark serves on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation (GCJF) and previously served on the Board of Directors of the Commission on Continuing Lawyer Competency (CCLC). Ms. Clark previously served on the Board of Directors for the Commission on Dispute Resolution, on the Board of Directors of the Institute for Continuing Judicial Education (ICJE), the Board of Directors of the Institute for Continuing Legal Education (ICLE) and the Board of Directors for the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism (CJCP).  She is also a member of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) and a member of the American Bar Association (ABA).  Ms. Clark has previously served on the State Bar of Georgia Office of General Counsel’s Investigative Panel and the Review Panel.

Ms. Clark has testified extensively before the Georgia General Assembly on issues as far ranging as the discriminatory effect of caps on damages, the detrimental impact of the proposed elimination of vicarious liability in Georgia, the Juvenile Justice Reform Legislation, signed into law in 2013 by Governor Deal, and the elimination of the assignability of legal malpractice claims.  Ms. Clark served on the Georgia General Assembly Bicameral Evidence Code Committee that was responsible for drafting the Georgia Evidence Code that was passed and signed into law in 2011 and went into effect in January 2013. Through her advocacy on behalf of Georgia citizens with the Georgia Legislature, she has built strong relationships with numerous Legislators and has worked to promote the cause of justice and protect the constitutional rights of all Georgia citizens.

Ms. Clark received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Vanderbilt University in 1985 and received her Juris Doctor from Emory University School of Law in 1988. Ms. Clark has been extensively published.  As President of the State Bar of Georgia she had 162 articles published in 84 different publications, with a total circulation of 3,122,569. Clark is the author of “Who’s Your Neighbor? Our Moral Obligation to Discuss Mental Health with Our Peers,” Verdict Magazine, Winter 2018; “I’d Rather See a Sermon,” Verdict Magazine, Fall 2016; Building a Connection: Saving the Life of Your Fellow Lawyer, Daily Report, August 2016; “ARE YOU OKAY? ”The Most Important Conversation No One Wants to Have, Atlanta Bar Association Magazine, March 2015; “Realizing the Dream of Equality for All,”  Georgia Bar Journal, Vol. 18, No. 7, June 2013; State Bar’s Suicide Prevention Campaign Tells ‘How to Save a Life,’ Daily Report, September 2013;“All I Really Know About Professionalism I Learned in Golf,”  Georgia Bar Journal, Vol. 18, No. 6, April 2013;  “Decisions Are Made By Those Who Show Up,”  Georgia Bar Journal, Vol. 18, No. 5, February 2013; “How To Save a Life,”  Georgia Bar Journal, Vol. 18, No. 4, December 2012; “Legal Trailblazers:  Women in Leadership,”  Georgia Bar Journal, Vol. 18, No. 2, October 2012; “Sharing the Abundance and Lifting All Boats,”  Georgia Bar Journal, Vol. 18, No. 1, August 2012;   There is No Me Without You~Don Keenan:  The Road to Serendipity, a Passion for Children, Verdict Magazine, Winter 2011;  There is No Me Without You~Pressing On for a Cure: Patrick Chance’s Story, Verdict Magazine, Winter 2009;   Voir Dire: It’s Elementary, My Dear Watson, Verdict Magazine, Winter 2009; There You Go Again:  Other Similar Incidents in Medical Malpractice Cases (A Case Study of Bean v. Northeast Georgia Medical Center), Verdict Magazine, Vol. 29, No. 3, Fall/Winter 2004, Essential Tools for Overcoming Trial Fear, Trial Excellence, Advanced Trial Tactics for Attorneys,  May 2001 and Closing Argument Tips: Compensatory and Punitive Damages, Trial Excellence, Tactics, Legal Updates & Samples, September 2001.

Ms. Clark is admitted to the State and Superior Courts of Georgia, the Georgia Court of Appeals, the Georgia Supreme Court, the United States District Court for the Northern and Middle Districts, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the United States Supreme Court.  Ms. Clark has tried over 70 jury trials and has argued before Georgia appellate courts over 40 times.  Ms. Clark has given numerous speeches for the State Bar of Georgia, the Institute of Continuing Legal Education of Georgia and for the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, has appeared on The Layman’s Lawyer on Atlanta Public Television on the issue of products liability and has appeared on Leyes Cotidianas or Everyday Law on Georgia Public Television on the issue of harmful change of Georgia Civil Justice System in 2005. Ms. Clark has served as volunteer counsel for The Carter Center program “Not Even One Child’s Death by a Firearm is Acceptable or Inevitable”, the Georgia Council for the Hearing Impaired and the Atlanta Bar Foundation’s Truancy Intervention Project. Ms. Clark is also a volunteer lawyer with Civil Lawyers Against World Sex Slavery (CLAWSS). 

Ms. Clark is married to William T. Clark, Director of Political Affairs for Georgia Trial Lawyers Association.  They have two children, Chastain “Chaz”, age 25, and Alexandria “Alex”, age 22.  Chaz is a graduate of Georgia College and State University and is attending graduate school at Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Architecture. Alex is a graduate of the University of Georgia, where she was Captain of the UGA Rowing Team and is now a 2L at the University of Georgia School of Law. Ms. Clark is a member of Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church on the beautiful Emory University Campus.  Ms. Clark is an avid golfer, carrying a 19 handicap.

You may read more about Ms. Clark on her website, www.gatriallawyers.net, or her blog, www.atlantainjurylawyerblog.com.  You may reach Ms. Clark also at robinclark@gatriallawyers.net and follow her on Twitter @robinfclark.

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Free Resources:

Stages Of A Jury Trial - Part 1

Stages Of A Jury Trial - Part 2