steve1906
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 16206
posted
One Penn Law graduate wants to help the victims pursue their bullies.
Antonio Ponvert III — a 1990 Penn Law graduate — is making huge strides in the courtroom. Though he started out as a civil rights lawyer, Ponvert shifted his focus to complex and high value injury and wrongful death cases about ten years ago.
In this position, Ponvert only represents plaintiffs, individuals who have been hurt in some way, so he does not represent any corporations or governmental bodies.
Ponvert said a common theme among his cases is “representing people who have been victimized in some way by someone who was in in a position of power over them.”
To date, his most high profile case is that of Cara Munn. At fourteen, she traveled with her boarding school to China, where the group entered a forested area as part of an excursion. In the forest, a tick bit Munn, who contracted encephalitis and permanently lost her ability to speak. After suing the school for negligence, Ponvert won his client $41.75 million.
Ponvert said that the case's national impact made it special.
“[The verdict] had a really positive effect all over the nation because it caused organizations to be much more careful in how they take minors on trips to foreign countries," Ponvert said.
After the Munn case, Ponvert recalled getting many phone calls from schools and camps sharing that they had instituted stricter protocols to investigate potential dangers and work towards providing the most possible protection for their students or campers when traveling abroad.
Ponvert credits authenticity in his clients and their stories for his courtroom success. He explained that law schools often teach students to be tough, ruthless and flawless in their presentation of cases, but he opts for an alternate route.
“Common wisdom out of law school is to be perfect, strong, impressive, and slick, and I think that’s exactly wrong," Ponvert said. "Jurors are people, and people respond to others in need, when the other person is in pain or has been hurt and needs help and is willing to admit that."
Therefore, Ponvert looks to tell his clients' stories by including the good and weak facets to encourage the jurors to connect to the story. Believing in the importance of vulnerability in the courtroom, he tells his clients' stories in ways that tug at the jury's heartstrings, garnering empathy that translates into favorable outcomes for the plaintiffs.
“The common story we all share, I believe, is one of trust and betrayal," Ponvert said. "Every single lawsuit contains a trust and betrayal story, and I believe every person has at one time in their life trusted someone and been betrayed by that person.”
Although Ponvert hopes his victories will impact the world for the better, he notes that this isn't always the case — in one case, Ponvert represented the wife and children of a man who died of tongue cancer due to chewing tobacco use. The company settled for $5 million dollars.
Despite this large settlement, Ponvert said the tobacco company, and industry as a whole, failed to institute measures to prevent deaths and injury. He said much of the problem is that the industry is so profitable, so manufacturers don’t feel the financial effects of lawsuits.
Ponvert credits Penn Law with providing him with the tools that led to his success, especially noting the influence of Senior Fellow David Rudovsky, who was a first year professor during Ponvert's first year in law school and continues to be a friend and mentor.
Currently, he is working on a case where a young girl contracted Lyme disease at sleep-away camp, despite the camp's advertisement for a four-stage prevention program to protect campers from infected ticks.
Through his investigation, however, Ponvert has found the camp may not have done all it could have to protect this girl and her fellow campers. He seeks $41.75 million for his client in this case as well.
While much of the focus in these cases is the individual clients, Ponvert hopes the rulings may ripple outward and encourage widespread safety. With his most recent case, he hopes camps and other child-care organizations do everything they can to keep the kids safe.
For example, he noted that the Cara Munn case encouraged camps and schools to increase their insurance policies in case anything goes wrong, and in turn, insurance companies work to make sure their clients are doing what they can to protect their students.
(3)The door has opened for Lyme-treating doctors to accept insurance — once all is established in U.S. Federal Court. (I will keep you posted about the advance of this outcome.) 2. You may now sue your insurance company for past bills not covered or reimbursed by insurance.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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payne
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Member # 26248
posted
brought tears to eyes... Lord let it BE.
-------------------- TULAREMIA/rabbit fever ? Posts: 1931 | From mid-michigan | Registered: Jun 2010
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dbpei
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 33574
posted
Good stuff indeed!
Posts: 2386 | From New England | Registered: Aug 2011
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desertwind
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posted
Bring it on!!!!!!!
Posts: 1671 | From Tick Infested New Jersey | Registered: Apr 2010
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poppy
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Member # 5355
posted
Well, pretty soon summer camps and field trips will stop entirely because it is not possible to protect kids from every possible outdoor threat. And it seems to me that families have some obligation to do what they can also. It is their responsibility too.
Can't say I buy this approach as a way to get better diagnosis and treatment of lyme, as well as doc protection. If a person is bitten and it is caught quickly, there will be no need for hungry lawyers to hunt such cases. And don't you know this is a contingency case, which means the larger the award, the larger the lawyer cut will be. It looks like cashing in to me.
Sorry, there are better ways to help lyme patients than this. Too bad this guy isn't doing them, but there's no big cash coming from that approach.
Posts: 2888 | From USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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surprise
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Member # 34987
posted
We discussed this case here before- it is not (based on my memory, don't want to read again)
a simple case of 'kid went to camp and got Lyme.' I believe the child had a blatant tick bite, got immediate fever and very sick, nurse did not take care, parents not called, etc.
And there was a signed contract before entering the camp that it was a known Lyme endemic area, and the camp personal would be on top of it and aware.
-------------------- Lyme positive PCR blood, and positive Bartonella henselae Igenex, 2011. low positive Fry biofilm test, 2012. Update 7/16- After extensive treatments, doing okay! Posts: 2518 | From USA | Registered: Nov 2011
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poppy
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5355
posted
Yes, and I believe what was done would have been condoned by the IDSA and CDC. They would say there was no obvious connection between the tickbite and the fever and wait and see what happens. This is why there are so many chronic cases: because the official doctrine is to ignore tickbites until it is too late.
So why should we expect a camp or any other entity to go out on a limb and treat an early bite in the absence of a positive test? And there won't be a positive test for weeks after the bite.
I still say this lawyer has chosen the wrong target. But there is no pot of gold for anyone suing the govt or the IDSA.
Posts: 2888 | From USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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surprise
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 34987
posted
I think (from a legal standpoint) putting out a contract saying yes, we are in a known Lyme endemic area, but no worries, we got your kid covered,
then the blatant disregard when child became feverish and ill. Now the child is disabled.
From a chronic Lyme person like myself, I can only hope (not holding my breath) it may serve to wake up SOMEONE, oh, wait, co- infections exist, and by golly 2 weeks of Doxy after the fact don't work.
Or, (more positive thinking) maybe SOMEONE will think: shucks, maybe we should try and eradicate all these ticks.
-------------------- Lyme positive PCR blood, and positive Bartonella henselae Igenex, 2011. low positive Fry biofilm test, 2012. Update 7/16- After extensive treatments, doing okay! Posts: 2518 | From USA | Registered: Nov 2011
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