Joshua Ryan Van Naarden

Practice Details

• Firm Information
  Position

  Associate
• Representative Cases & Transactions
  Transactions

  Won a major case in Philadelphia involving the death of a premature baby born at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; Convinced a jury that the hospital didn't have proper procedures and policies in place that would have required Chantal E. Vonner to be seen by an attending physician for a weakened cervix. As a result, the 25-year-old first-time mother was seen by a physician in training and discharged without undergoing a procedure known as a cerclage, a stitch that would have strengthened the cervix and reduced the risk to her child, Amethyst. The hospital argued that it never performs the cerclage procedure because it is not effective. But Van Naarden successfully debunked that by pointing to the institution's own website, which advertised cervical cerclages. Amethyst was born alive, but survived less than two hours. After a weeklong trial, the jury returned a $3 million verdict in the case, including $2 million for Amethyst's pain and suffering, which is believed to be among the largest awards for a child born after less than 20 weeks. The verdict went on to become the second largest medical malpractice verdict for Philadelphia County in 2010; A $10.2 million verdict in the case involving six occupants of an overcrowded van involved in a catastrophic motor vehicle accident; A $1.25 million settlement on behalf of the estate of an 18-year-old shot by his friend by mistake; An $800,000 verdict in Chester County for a man who suffered a perforated eardrum when a doctor tried to remove wax. Assisted founding partner Matthew Casey in the record-setting case of a 30-year-old University of Pennsylvania medical student who fell through an open manhole on his way to classes, shattering his spine. A jury in 2008 awarded a stunning $85 million in the case. Assisted founding partner Joel Feller in a $7 million settlement for the family of a truck driver who died in a crash caused by a defective steering assembly, and helped founding partner Rob Ross obtain a $4 million recovery for a man who suffered frostbite and the loss of his fingers while working at a Philadelphia sporting event.