Episode 65
November 23, 2025
From Six Breaches of Care to One Original Sin, with Tim Wojton and Matt Scanlon
Episode Summary
Tim Wojton was prepared to tell jurors that a skilled nursing facility violated six different standards of care, leading to a patient’s death from hypovolemic shock. Then he realized that there was really just one. “I thought, wait a minute, understaffing isn’t just another breach. Understaffing is the original sin.” In this case breakdown, Tim and trial partner Matt Scanlon describe to host Brendan Lupetin how they tracked down former employees, turned brutal cross-examination moments into powerful jury connections, and used a simple tree analogy to help jurors understand corporate negligence. Jurors awarded $750,000.
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- The case involved a 78-year-old man with a history of lymphoma who entered a skilled nursing facility at 140 pounds following a pelvic fracture and lost 27 pounds during his three-month stay before dying of hypovolemic shock, which is typically secondary to dehydration.
- Initially, the team focused their case theory on pneumonia as the cause of death. Halfway through litigation, they realized that the defense had some good defenses, so they pivoted to focusing on the patient’s dehydration.
- The team located former employees who provided critical testimony about understaffing, missed meals, and inadequate care documentation at the facility.
- During cross-examination of the defense nursing expert who had testified in over 5,200 cases (128 times for the same defense firm), Tim revealed that her report documented only three rejected meals across four months, undermining the defense’s claim that the patient rejected care.
- Matt created a powerful moment when he showed before-and-after photos of the decedent to his client, the decedent’s brother. Trying not to cry, the brother whispered, “He looks different.” The jury was moved.
Tim Wojton
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