Megan A. Lawless- Attorney for the Holocaust
https://bpn.law/attorney/megan-a-lawless/
Megan Lawless is chairperson of the firm’s Appellate Practice Group and leads the firm’s appellate efforts in all COVID-19 legal matters, including the briefing of first impression issues before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Megan is a skilled brief writer who has won significant motions at the trial level and has successfully argued appeals in New York’s appellate courts.
Megan has a diverse legal background, having practiced commercial and products liability litigation at prominent law firms in New York and Philadelphia, and having served as in-house litigation counsel at a Fortune 100 telecommunications company in Washington, D.C. Megan earned her Juris Doctor from Pennsylvania State University, The Dickinson School of Law in 1996, where she graduated cum laude, and was a member of the Dickinson Law Review, the Appellate Moot Court Board and the Woolsack Honor Society. Megan was also a College Honors Scholar and graduated magna cum laude from Mt. St. Mary’s University, where she earned a B.A. in History. Megan is admitted to practice law in the states of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
October 3, 2022.
Dylan Braverman, Megan Lawless and Chuck Faillace Win Pre-Answer Dismissal of all Claims Against a Major Manhattan Hospital Based on the EDTPA COVID-19 Immunity
On July 7, 2022, Dylan Braverman, Megan Lawless and Chuck Faillace prevailed on a motion to dismiss in favor of a major Manhattan hospital in the Supreme Court, New York County. Plaintiff brought malpractice claims based on care provided in March 2020. The VBPNP COVID-19 Team argued that the claims must be dismissed, based on the broad immunity provided to medical care providers during COVID-19 surge in New York. In this seminal case, the court found that the EDTPA immunity applied warranting dismissal of all claims against. This was the first EDTPA immunity case decided in the influential Supreme Court, New York County.
October 3, 2022.
Dylan Braverman and Megan Lawless Win Pre-Answer Dismissal of all Claims Against a Staten Island Hospital Based on the EDTPA COVID-19 Immunity
On September 30, 2022, Dylan Braverman and Megan Lawless prevailed on a pre-answer motion to dismiss in favor of a Staten Island hospital in the Supreme Court, Richmond County. Plaintiff brought malpractice claims based on care provided in April 2020. The VBPNP COVID-19 Team argued that the claims must be dismissed, based on the broad immunity provided to medical care providers due during COVID-19 surge in New York City. Plaintiff countered that the EDTPA immunity was retroactively repealed based on an affidavit of a NY State Representative. The VBPNP COVID-19 Team countered that the plain language of the repeal was prospective, and that the wishes and desires of one State Representative cannot override the will of the legislature and the law. The Court agreed with the VBPNP COVID-19 Team and dismissed in a groundbreaking decision.
June 8, 2023.
Dylan Braverman, Adam Covitt & Megan Lawless Promoted to Equity Partners at VBPNP
VBPNP is very proud to announce that Dylan Braverman, Adam Covitt and Megan Lawless have been elected to become Equity Partners with the firm. Our new Equity Partners have consistently demonstrated excellence in their areas of practice and dedication to the firm.
Dylan and Megan serve as Co-Chairs of the firm’s COVID-19 Litigation Team, which has been recognized nationally for its leadership in this ever changing area of law. The COVID Team serves as lead counsel defending municipalities, health systems, nursing homes and other professionals against COVID-19 claims throughout New York and the nation.
Dylan is also the Co-Chair of the firm’s Nursing Home practice group. He has been awarded Super Lawyer designation since 20018, representing the top 5% of the attorneys in New York City. Dylan is a Board Member and former-President of the Associate of Healthcare Risk Managers of New York (“AHRMNY”) and lectures extensively at national conferences. He is regularly assigned lead trial attorney in a variety of practice areas including professional liability, nursing home, D&O, labor/construction law, products liability, and cyber litigation.
Adam is an accomplished trial attorney, specializing in the defense of hospitals, nursing homes and physicians in both state and federal court. He also represents clients in general liability matters, criminal investigations and matters before the Office of Professional Medical Conduct. Adam is a former senior trial attorney at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, where he served in the Office’s prestigious Homicide Bureau and was appointed Deputy Bureau Chief of the Criminal Court Bureau. He has taken on various leadership roles in the community, serving as the Village Prosecutor for the Village of Kensington in Great Neck and on the Board of Trustees of Temple Israel of Great Neck.
In addition to serving as Co-Chair of the Firm’s COVID-19 team, Megan serves as Chairperson of the Appellate Practice Group and leads the appellate efforts in all COVID-19 related matters, including the briefing of first impression issues before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Megan is a skilled brief writer who has won significant motions at the trial level and has successfully argued appeals in New York’s appellate courts. Megan has a diverse legal background, having practiced commercial and products liability litigation at prominent law firms in New York and Philadelphia. She also served as in-house counsel at a Fortune 100 telecommunications company in Washington, D.C.
Dylan, Adam and Megan join John Barker, Gary Patterson, Jeff Nichols, Mamie Stathatos-Fulgieri, Kyriaki Chrisomallides, Scott Singer and Gregg Weinstock as Equity Partners with the firm.
August 10, 2023.
Brian Andrews, Dylan Braverman and Megan Lawless Obtain Pre-Answer Dismissal of COVID-19, Nursing Home and Wrongful Death Claims Against Nursing Home
The COVID-19 team prevailed in a pre-answer motion to dismiss an almost 50-page Complaint containing Eight Causes of Action against a New York City Nursing Home. Plaintiff claimed that there was poor infection control policies and a failure to comply with CDC and New York Department of Health COVID-19 policies, leading to the patient’s exposure of COVID-19 causing her death. Plaintiff also claimed violations of various laws governing Nursing Homes as well as gross negligence. Plaintiff argued that the COVID-19 immunity was repealed and that the nursing home failed to establish that the patient’s care was impacted by COVID-19. The court rejected the claim of retroactivity, finding that the EDTPA was only prospectively repealed. The court also ruled that the nursing home established that COVID-19 impacted the patient’s care by submission of an Affidavit from the facility’s Executive Director and Administrator detailing the patient’s care. Finally, the court ruled that the gross negligence fail as they were general and without any specific facts to support the claim. The COVID-19 team will continue to aggressively seek dismissal of all claims brought against our clients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
November 1, 2023.
IN LANDMARK DECISION, MEGAN LAWLESS AND DYLAN BRAVERMAN OBTAIN REVERSAL OF COORDINATION OF COVID-19 CLAIMS
In a hard fought win that will impact over 1,000 hotly contested COVID-19 claims throughout the state, Megan Lawless and Dylan Braverman achieved a landmark victory in reversing an Order from New York’s Litigation Coordinating Panel that forced all nursing home COVID-19 era claims to be coordinated for dispositive motions, discovery and pretrial proceedings throughout New York State. The Panel’s now reversed Order coordinated all claims brought against nursing homes or their physicians and nurses. This Order would have highly prejudiced individual nursing homes and their clinical team by forcing them to collectively litigate legal and factual issues unique to each of them in a mass tort type setting, thus removing the reality that each claim arose from highly personal and individual facts concerning the patient’s care and medical condition. This would have prevented each nursing home, nurse and physician from telling their personalized COVID-19 story. The win by Megan, Dylan and the firm’s COVID-19 team will now allow the truly individualized accounts of heroism in the face of extreme adversity to be heard in defense of these claims.
This hard fought win was the result of an unprecedented initiative by Megan, Dylan and the firm’s COVID-19 team. The firm commenced six individual Article 78 petitions on behalf of multiple clients to challenge the enforceability of the coordination order on the grounds that it violated New York’s Constitution. After months of litigation and consideration by all parties, this effort led to the Panel reversing its Order, effectively disbanding any coordination of these cases, and reaffirming that COVID-19 nursing homes claims should be individually litigated in the courts where they were properly commenced.
Indeed, in dozens of motions, plaintiffs have sought to delay ultimate justice on these cases based on the now reversed Coordination Order. Nursing homes, and their physicians and nurses can now seek dismissal on these claims without delay.
December 1, 2023.
MEGAN LAWLESS AND DYLAN BRAVERMAN WIN DISMISSAL OF COVID-19 CLAIMS AGAINST LONG ISLAND NURSING HOME
In a long awaited decision, Megan Lawless and Dylan Braverman obtained dismissal of all claims brought against the firm’s nursing home client based on the federal PREP Act and the state EDTPA immunities. Plaintiff alleged negligence, malpractice, gross negligence, wrongful death and statutory violations against the nursing home based on their response to COVID-19 and the treatment of the patient. Megan and Dylan moved to dismiss citing the COVID-19 emergency immunities passed by NY State and issued by the federal government. The motion to dismiss was delayed due to the pendency of an Article 78 Petition addressing the legality of the court ordered coordination of all COVID-19 nursing home claims in the state of New York. However, after coordination of these claims were dismantled as a result of the Article 78 Petition, the trial court moved on towards deciding the motion to dismiss this case. The court found that the EDTPA was not retroactively repealed and that all remaining arguments by plaintiff were without merit. Thus, this case was dismissed based on the federal and state immunities.
December 18, 2023.
David Allen, Megan Lawless and Dylan Braverman Obtain Pre-Answer Dismissal of Wrongful Death, Malpractice and Gross Negligence Claims Against 5 Physicians and a Major Staten Island Hospital
The COVID-19 team is pleased to announce the dismissal of wrongful death, malpractice and gross negligence claims against five physicians a major Staten Island hospital who stood with the community in battling COVID-19. All claims arose from the care of a severely ill COVID-19 patient by the hospital and its clinical staff at the height of the initial COVID-19 surge that swept Staten Island in early 20202. The Court found that the state EDTPA immunity and federal PREP Act immunity barred the claims since all care was impacted by the desire to stop the spread of COVID-19 and to treat the patient’s severe COVID-19 symptoms. The Court also found that the claims related to the use of COVID-19 countermeasures. Plaintiff argued that the allegations, including a failure to conduct mouth-to-mouth resuscitation which was contraindicated by COVID-19 protocols, amounted to gross negligence which is an exception to the EDTPA. The court rejected the claim, and found that no genuine gross negligence was pled. As a result, all claims were dismissed. David Allen, Dylan Braverman and Megan Lawless wrote the moving papers and Megan Lawless orally argued the motion before the court.
December 18, 2023.
David Allen, Megan Lawless and Dylan Braverman Obtain Pre-Answer Dismissal of Wrongful Death, Malpractice and Gross Negligence Claims Against 5 Physicians and a Major Staten Island Hospital
The COVID-19 team is pleased to announce the dismissal of wrongful death, malpractice and gross negligence claims against five physicians a major Staten Island hospital who stood with the community in battling COVID-19. All claims arose from the care of a severely ill COVID-19 patient by the hospital and its clinical staff at the height of the initial COVID-19 surge that swept Staten Island in early 20202. The Court found that the state EDTPA immunity and federal PREP Act immunity barred the claims since all care was impacted by the desire to stop the spread of COVID-19 and to treat the patient’s severe COVID-19 symptoms. The Court also found that the claims related to the use of COVID-19 countermeasures. Plaintiff argued that the allegations, including a failure to conduct mouth-to-mouth resuscitation which was contraindicated by COVID-19 protocols, amounted to gross negligence which is an exception to the EDTPA. The court rejected the claim, and found that no genuine gross negligence was pled. As a result, all claims were dismissed. David Allen, Dylan Braverman and Megan Lawless wrote the moving papers and Megan Lawless orally argued the motion before the court.
January 2, 2024.
Megan Lawless Wins Hard Fought Dismissal of Claims Against a Brooklyn Hospital and Several Attending Physicians at the Hospital
By Nancy Werner | January 2, 2024
The BPN COVID-19 Team secured pre-answer dismissal in a high profile malpractice claim against our clients, a Brooklyn hospital and several physicians affiliated with the hospital. Plaintiff brought malpractice claims against our clients, who were physicians and a major Brooklyn hospital proudly serving the local community in the darkest days of COVID-19. Plaintiff claimed the hospital and its physicians failed to timely detect and treat COVID-19 in the early days of the pandemic in March of 2020. The patient was a hospital employee, who was being followed during her pregnancy by the Ob/Gyn team. She presented on two occasions in early March and was diagnosed as one of the first COVID-19 patients in Brooklyn. She was aggressively treated, and eventually required intubation. She was extubated, but then suffered an apparent COVID-19 clot allegedly causing quadriplegia.
This claim gained national press and was the subject of defining COVID-19 appellate decisions, including one by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. It was returned to the Supreme Court, Kings County and Megan Lawless moved to dismiss on the pleadings based on the EDTPA and PREP Act immunities. She later engaged in spirited oral argument on the motion. The court eventually agreed with Megan’s argument that the EDTPA was not retroactively repealed; that this patient’s care was impacted by acts and decisions related to her COVID-19 diagnosis and the desire to prevent the spread of COVID-19; and that plaintiff did not plead any genuine exception to the EDTPA immunity since the allegations of gross negligence were conclusory, self-serving and lacked sufficient facts to substantiate the claim. Ms. Lawless has been a tireless advocate on this issue, and the COVID-19 team is very proud of this fantastic result for the well deserving Brooklyn hospital and the physicians who risked their lives to protect Brooklynites and the rest of New York from the early, terrifying surge of COVID-19.
May 17, 2024.
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NASSAU DENIES MOTION TO DISMISS OF MEGAN LAWLESS
Consistent with the above, the factual claims alleged in the complaint, which must be accepted as true and afforded the benefit of every favorable intendment (Nonnon v City of New York, supra at 827), are unequivocally based upon South Nassau’s “nonadministration” of Ivermectin and accordingly the immunity afforded under PREP is inapplicable (Hampton v California, supra at 763). Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED, that South Nassau’s application for an order dismissing the Plaintiff’s complaint is DENIED, in its entirety; and it is further ORDERED, that the parties are reminded of the previously scheduled Preliminary Conference on June 3, 2024, which shall be held in accordance with the virtual PC Protocols in effect. This constitutes the decision and order of this Court.
END
P.S. Can anyone find a case # on SCOTT D. MANTEL v SOUTH NASSAU COMMUNITIES HOSPITAL
d/b/a MOUNT SINAI SOUTH NASSAU? I can't find it in PACER using search words (first time that's happened tp me in PACER). I could pay $49 to Trellis Law that has documents on the case, but I think if I can get the case # it will pull up in PACER, which is public. Trellis charges even to see the case #. One thing I'm specifically looking for is Megan's motion to dismiss based on the PREP Act. I read it last night, then search engines wouldn't show me the document today. They don't like you looking at their cards.
Lawless. Yeah. No shit Sherlock.
May her time on this planet be brief for all her "work" screwing over patients and claims that at any other time would have been heard and never dismissed. Katherine Watt and Sasha Latypova both identified the legitimized kill box of the cull. This needs to stop.