Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Appeals Court: Six strikes, you're out
Boston Business Journal - by Lisa van der Pool
One local man won’t have his day in court because his lawyer failed to serve the lawsuit, despite a number of opportunities.

The Massachusetts Appeals Court Wednesday reversed a decision that had allowed a medical malpractice case to proceed against Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Inc., after the plaintiff’s lawyer had missed six different deadlines to serve the lawsuit.

The serial failure to serve the suit led a court to dismiss the case. It was reinstated 13 months later.

The matter began on July 16, 2004, when Michael Dana Kennedy launched a medical malpractice action against his doctors at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Inc., who had allegedly failed to diagnose his cystic fibrosis, according to Massachusetts Appeals Court documents.

Kennedy hired H. Paul Carroll of Newburyport to sue the hospital, but during the following months Kennedy missed the six...