Boyce Law Firm, LLP is pleased to announce that Michael S. McKnight has been inducted into the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals in recognition of his mediation practice for the past ten years.
Boyce Law Firm, LLP is pleased to announce that Thomas J. Von Wald has become a partner in the firm effective January 1, 2016; and Stefan M. Szwarc has joined the firm as an associate in January 2016.
The National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) has recertified Boyce Attorney Tom Welk as a civil trial law and civil pretrial practice advocate, making this year his twentieth year of certification.
This well-deserved award comes as a result of Welk’s forty years of trial and appellate experience in hundreds of complex civil and administrative law litigation matters representing individuals and small and national companies. Members of the NBTA must complete a rigorous application process that includes a demonstration of substantial trial experience, submission of judicial and peer references to attest to their competency, attendance of continuing legal education courses, and proof of good standing. Recertification must be approved every five years. The NBTA estimates that only three percent of American lawyers are board certified, and only eleven lawyers are certified in civil trial advocacy in South Dakota, making Welk a member of very select group. Board certification is one of the highest, most stringent, and most reliable honors that any attorney can receive. Congratulations to Tom!
On November 5, 2015, Attorney Tom Welk was awarded the Robert C. Riter Distinguished Service Award by the South Dakota Defense Lawyers Association.
Tom Welk is the first recipient of this award, which was created to recognize exceptional dedication to the defense practice of civil litigation in South Dakota. Tom was previously was awarded the Defense Research Institute’s Fred H. Sievert Outstanding Defense Bar Leader Award. Along with having received these awards, Tom has served the Association well having been a Board of Director, a President, and a long time member. This well-deserved award was presented to Tom at the Association’s annual evening meeting in Deadwood, South Dakota. Congratulations to Tom!
On October 28, 2015, Attorneys Michael Tobin and Meghann Joyce prevailed in an appeal before the South Dakota Supreme Court.
Aggregate Construction, Inc. initially brought a lawsuit against the South Dakota Department of Transportation relating to a South Dakota road construction project. Aggregate Construction, Inc. and the DOT settled their lawsuit, and, as part of that settlement, Aggregate Construction, Inc. signed a broad release of claims that it might have against others arising out of that project. Nonetheless, Aggregate Construction, Inc. later attempted to bring a lawsuit against engineers it had hired relating to that same road construction project. The engineers, represented by Attorneys Tobin and Joyce, moved for summary judgment on the basis of the release, and the trial court granted the motion. On appeal, the South Dakota Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s decision in the engineer’s favor.
On October 19, 2015, after over three years of litigation, a Davison County, South Dakota jury entered a verdict in favor of a local hospital, finding that it did not wrongfully terminate one of its former employees, an ophthalmologist. Boyce Attorneys Lisa Marso and Matt Murphy represented the hospital throughout the case.
In late 2011, the hospital terminated the plaintiff after it determined she posed a danger to the health and safety of its patients. At trial, the plaintiff’s attorney argued that the hospital did not undertake an adequate investigation prior to making that decision and he asserted that the information the hospital relied upon did not justify its actions. The plaintiff testified that she has been unable to find work as a physician since the termination. During her case-in-chief, she presented an economic expert who testified that her lost wages would total nearly $6 million. In closing arguments, the plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury to award her just over $750,000, an amount that would have totaled nearly $1 million after interest was added. The jury found in favor of the hospital and awarded the plaintiff nothing.
Various claims were litigated throughout the case, including the plaintiff’s claims for negligent misrepresentation, fraud, breach of contract, slander/libel/defamation, discrimination, negligence/negligence per se, retaliation, due process violations, 42 U.S.C. §1983, tortious interference, and punitive damages. Early in the case, the plaintiff also made claims against three other individual defendants, including a hospital employee and two other local physicians who were not hospital employees. By the time trial began, Attorneys Marso and Murphy had succeeded in getting the three individually named defendants dismissed from the case altogether.