Jury selection will begin on June 16, 2008 in the much-anticipated trial in Andrew Carothers, M.D., P.C. v. State Farm, GEICO, AIG, et al. in Richmond County (Staten Island), New York. Smith Valliere PLLC represents the plaintiff medical corporation seeking to recover over $20 million in outstanding claims that the more than 50 insurance company defendants refuse to pay.
The case consolidates thousands of lawsuits involving over 50 insurance companies for the June 16, 2008 trial and will be the first jury trial to address the recent landmark decision by the New York Court of Appeals in Mallela v. State Farm in which New York’s highest court held that, in cases of no-fault medical insurance claims, insurance companies may refuse to reimburse medical corporations that are “fraudulently incorporated” even if doctors provided legitimate medical services to patients with genuine medical needs.
The case has attracted the attention of New York’s medical and insurance industries, and has been followed quite closely by both, as the verdict should establish an important legal precedent with repercussions likely to be felt across both industries.
Lead trial counsel, Mark W. Smith, said: “The insurance companies’ arguments are baseless and constitute nothing but a pretext for denying payment of over $20 million to my client Andrew Carothers, M.D., P.C. We are confident that the jury will send a clear message to the insurance industry: Pay up.”
Smith continued: “The insurance industry is using my client in an attempt to create a legal precedent that it can later use to refuse payment to countless New York doctors and medical practices for health care services provided. Such a precedent could potentially shift hundreds of millions of dollars of wealth from New York’s medical community to the insurance companies. I doubt any patients would approve.”
The over 50 insurance companies who comprise the defendants in this case are represented by several major New York law firms, including lead counsel Rivkin Radler LLP.
CASE BACKGROUND TRIALS 
