Jennifer Higgins on Defending Physicians, Why the Truth Does Not Just Come Out in Court

What happens when a Queens DA prosecutor who spent six years trying domestic violence and sexual assault cases pivots to the civil side — and discovers that everything she learned about how to break an expert witness, prepare a deponent, and anticipate an adversary's next move translates directly into defending physicians accused of malpractice — and then teams up with a partner who grew up in a medical family, came out of Hofstra already thinking in medicine and science, and built a specialty in appellate strategy and motion practice that plants the seeds for every appeal before the trial even starts? In this episode of the Trustcast Show, Zane Myers speaks with Jennifer Higgins partners co-leading the Medical Malpractice Defense Division at Abrams Fensterman, about what actually happens inside a physician's mind the morning they open a summons, why talking to a colleague who has also been sued is one of the most legally dangerous things a doctor can do, and why the belief that the truth will simply come out at trial is one of the costliest assumptions in this entire field. Jennifer walks through the Perry Mason moment she actually got in a courtroom — where the plaintiff's expert, who had edited the Bible of his specialty, was forced to admit the book was authoritative and then announced he didn't care about the book and sent his water cup flying — and explains why she used pasta to teach a jury the difference between an arteriovenous malformation in the lung versus elsewhere in the body. Jennifer walks through the causation defense that won a case on appeal after losing summary judgment — a rheumatic fever claim where even a correct diagnosis on the day of the visit could not have changed the patient's outcome. They also discuss how Jennifer structure every case as a chess match — Jennifer thinking in the moment at trial while Melissa thinks long-term about the appellate record — why a hospital or employer is not automatically on the physician's side in a malpractice lawsuit, what the standard of care actually means to a jury versus what most physicians think it means, and why Abrams Fensterman's one-stop-shop model gives physicians something most malpractice defense firms cannot — a partner down the hall who handles OPMC licensing issues, another who does wills and trusts, and another who handles employment agreements and practice mergers. Jennifer Higgins are partners co-leading the Medical Malpractice Defense Division at Abrams Fensterman in Lake Success, New York. Connect with Jennifer Higgins: abramslaw.com Phone: 516-328-2300 Lake Success, New York Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Jennifer Higgins 00:51 Jennifer's path — six years as a Queens DA prosecuting domestic violence and sexual assault, then pivoting to physician defense 02:20 What pulled her out of the DA's office — student loans, but also a love of complex medicine 03:23 Working with DNA experts and medical experts as a prosecutor — and how that prepared her for retaining defense experts 03:53Jennifer's path — growing up in a medical family and going straight into healthcare defense 05:09 What is going through a physician's mind the first 24 hours after receiving a summons 05:28 The first call to the insurance carrier — notify immediately and request preferred counsel 06:00 Doctors who don't even know who the plaintiff is — how that happens and how the team handles it 08:05 Over 95% of physicians experience significant emotional distress when sued — what Jennifer sees across the table 08:44 Hand-holding through every step of litigation — soup to nuts, weekends included 09:30 When malpractice claims lead to OPMC licensing issues — and how the full-service team handles both simultaneously 10:00 Jennifer as the litigator counsel — how the two roles work together 11:25 How many cases actually reach trial — and why preparing every case for trial is the standard anyway 11:47 The discovery process — medical records, depositions, summary judgment motions, and the path to resolution 12:30 If we choose path A, where do we end up — thinking through every litigation decision in advance 13:32 Planting the seeds for appeal during trial — why having appellate counsel in the room matters 00:31 The physician deposition — talking too much is the single biggest mistake 01:10 How deposition differs from trial — open-ended questions versus controlled cross-examination 02:06 How Jennifer and Melissa prepare physicians for deposition — you don't throw them to the wolves 15:18 The cardinal rule — only talk to your carrier and your lawyer, nobody else 03:00 How to take apart a plaintiff's medical expert — cross-examination and prior contradictory testimony 04:37 The Perry Mason moment — the expert who edited the Bible of his specialty and then said he didn't care about the book #JenniferHiggins #AbramsFensterman #MedicalMalpracticeDefense #TrustcastShow #PhysicianDefense #HealthcareLaw #NewYorkMalpractice #StandardOfCare #MalpracticeAttorney