Winston Wins Large Judgment for Pro Bono Client

After a two-day bench trial, Chief Judge John Preston Bailey (N.D. W.Va.) recently entered judgment for Winston & Strawn pro bono client Terry Jones in the amount of $905,583.04 for a violation of the Federal Tort Claims Act. This award is one of the largest pro bono awards in the history of the firm and the fifth-largest medical malpractice judgment against the federal Bureau of Prisons in the last 10 years.

Our win vindicates Mr. Jones, a convicted federal felon, in his five-year battle against the United States government and the BOP for negligence in failing to properly diagnose and treat a severe – yet once preventable – spinal condition that has left Mr. Jones permanently disabled. 

During the two-day bench trial before the Chief Judge Bailey, a Winston & Strawn trial team presented compelling proof of the government’s negligence. After evidence from four hostile BOP employees regarding how Mr. Jones was injured and the government’s mishandling of a prison riot, an associate performed detailed and lengthy direct examinations of two medical experts whose testimony the Court found to be more credible than that of the United States’ expert witness. Partner Drew Sommer cross-examined the government’s expert, repeatedly exposing his lack of familiarity with the facts and obtaining key admissions that were detailed in the Court’s opinion.