David E. Smith Loves "Medical Mysteries"

Although hunkering down with a thick stack of largely illegible medical records may strike some as an odd way to relax and unwind, David E. Smith loves nothing better. By sleuthing through such records, Smith can unravel the myriad "medical mysteries" that his diverse caseload presents.

During his twenty-five years of civil practice, Smith has litigated a wide variety of complex medical products, medical malpractice, elder abuse and toxic tort cases. From his experience, Smith, who serves this year as president of the Sacramento Consumer Attorneys (SCA) has learned that the first and most important rule for the successful pursuit of these cases is research, research, and more research.

Smith believes that it is incumbent upon any attorney attempting to handle complex injury cases to master both the medical issues and the legal issues in order to be able to carefully select viable cases and to conduct thorough discovery to maximize the client's recovery.

According to Smith, many advocates will undervalue even clear liability injury cases because they do not fully understand or appreciate the physiological bases, or the mechanisms of injury, or the magnitude of the harms suffered by the accident victims. For example, Smith cites head injury cases, even those that may only involve modest trauma, that frequently result in post-concussive syndrome, personality and behavioral changes, and vestibular injury and balance difficulties - all of which may be undiagnosed and untreated even by the client's own examining and treating physicians.

Smith candidly admits that he never anticipated the significance that an affinity for medical research or a belatedly-acquired knowledge of the fundamentals of anatomy and physiology would play in his legal career. After graduating from Christian Brothers' High School in 1966, Smith obtained a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of San Francisco. At McGeorge School of Law, from which he graduated with honors in 1976, Smith took the conventional array of procedural classes, little suspecting that he would be spending more time in the medical library than in the law library during his future legal career.

During his final year at McGeorge, Smith clerked for the Sacramento defense firm of Tweedy, Duncan, Hunt & Ball, which at that time was heavily involved in the defense of medical malpractice cases for Sutter Hospitals. Signing on as an associate with the Tweedy firm in 1976, Smith immediately became immersed in a multitude of complex medical cases ranging from catastrophic birth injury to anesthesiological misadventure. As the case load was heavy and the small firm's trial calendar frequently over-booked, Smith tried to verdict five medical malpractice cases on a solo basis within his first two years of practice. This, he believes, would be an unlikely occurrence for any young associate in a defense firm today.

During the l980's Smith continued his endeavors as a defense attorney at the Matheny, Poidmore & Sears firm, where he also began representing plaintiffs in complex injury cases. Desiring to represent injured plaintiffs on a full- time basis, Smith withdrew from partnership in the Matheny firm in 1990 and joined the Wilcoxen & Callahan firm, whose principals enjoyed a statewide reputation for the level of their advocacy. During the 1990's, Smith expanded the breadth and scope of his medical knowledge litigating a multitude of medical malpractice and medical products cases, while at the same time deepening his awareness and appreciation for the extraordinary complexity of medical practice and the fragility of human life.

Smith notes that one of the most unanticipated - yet most appreciated - developments in his legal practice during the past decade has been the development and evolution of digital and electronic research tools -- most notably the explosion of Internet-based medical and scientific data bases. Using Internet research sources, he finds that he is able to obtain more accurate, more complete and more up to date information at a fraction of the time and effort that was previously needed, all of which gives him more time for his recreational pursuits ranging from racing his sailboat, to gardening (a.k.a. "dirt therapy"), to photography and travel with his wife, attorney Elisa Zitano, and their daughter, Arianna, who is currently a freshman at UC Davis.

Smith is unabashedly enthusiastic about the recently announced merger of the three separate law firms headed up by Daniel Wilcoxen, Clayeo Arnold and Gary Callahan into a single firm. "This will enhance our individual firm resources and allow us to expand our practice further in the areas of medical products and pharmaceutical litigation, as well as to continue to provide superlative representation of injured consumers in serious accident and injury cases." Although hunkering down with a thick stack of largely illegible medical records may strike some as an odd way to relax and unwind, David E. Smith loves nothing better. By sleuthing through such records, Smith can unravel the myriad "medical mysteries" that his diverse caseload presents.

During his twenty-five years of civil practice, Smith has litigated a wide variety of complex medical products, medical malpractice, elder abuse and toxic tort cases. From his experience, Smith, who serves this year as president of the Sacramento Consumer Attorneys (SCA) has learned that the first and most important rule for the successful pursuit of these cases is research, research, and more research.

Smith believes that it is incumbent upon any attorney attempting to handle complex injury cases to master both the medical issues and the legal issues in order to be able to carefully select viable cases and to conduct thorough discovery to maximize the client's recovery.

According to Smith, many advocates will undervalue even clear liability injury cases because they do not fully understand or appreciate the physiological bases, or the mechanisms of injury, or the magnitude of the harms suffered by the accident victims. For example, Smith cites head injury cases, even those that may only involve modest trauma, that frequently result in post-concussive syndrome, personality and behavioral changes, and vestibular injury and balance difficulties - all of which may be undiagnosed and untreated even by the client's own examining and treating physicians.

Smith candidly admits that he never anticipated the significance that an affinity for medical research or a belatedly-acquired knowledge of the fundamentals of anatomy and physiology would play in his legal career. After graduating from Christian Brothers' High School in 1966, Smith obtained a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of San Francisco. At McGeorge School of Law, from which he graduated with honors in 1976, Smith took the conventional array of procedural classes, little suspecting that he would be spending more time in the medical library than in the law library during his future legal career.

During his final year at McGeorge, Smith clerked for the Sacramento defense firm of Tweedy, Duncan, Hunt & Ball, which at that time was heavily involved in the defense of medical malpractice cases for Sutter Hospitals. Signing on as an associate with the Tweedy firm in 1976, Smith immediately became immersed in a multitude of complex medical cases ranging from catastrophic birth injury to anesthesiological misadventure. As the case load was heavy and the small firm's trial calendar frequently over-booked, Smith tried to verdict five medical malpractice cases on a solo basis within his first two years of practice. This, he believes, would be an unlikely occurrence for any young associate in a defense firm today.

During the l980's Smith continued his endeavors as a defense attorney at the Matheny, Poidmore & Sears firm, where he also began representing plaintiffs in complex injury cases. Desiring to represent injured plaintiffs on a full- time basis, Smith withdrew from partnership in the Matheny firm in 1990 and joined the Wilcoxen & Callahan firm, whose principals enjoyed a statewide reputation for the level of their advocacy. During the 1990's, Smith expanded the breadth and scope of his medical knowledge litigating a multitude of medical malpractice and medical products cases, while at the same time deepening his awareness and appreciation for the extraordinary complexity of medical practice and the fragility of human life.

Smith notes that one of the most unanticipated - yet most appreciated - developments in his legal practice during the past decade has been the development and evolution of digital and electronic research tools -- most notably the explosion of Internet-based medical and scientific data bases. Using Internet research sources, he finds that he is able to obtain more accurate, more complete and more up to date information at a fraction of the time and effort that was previously needed, all of which gives him more time for his recreational pursuits ranging from racing his sailboat, to gardening (a.k.a. "dirt therapy"), to photography and travel with his wife, attorney Elisa Zitano, and their daughter, Arianna, who is currently a freshman at UC Davis.

Smith is unabashedly enthusiastic about the recently announced merger of the three separate law firms headed up by Daniel Wilcoxen, Clayeo Arnold and Gary Callahan into a single firm. "This will enhance our individual firm resources and allow us to expand our practice further in the areas of medical products and pharmaceutical litigation, as well as to continue to provide superlative representation of injured consumers in serious accident and injury cases."