Charles E. Hill
After 20 years managing a general insurance defense practice, Charlie Hill had the opportunity to move into medical malpractice defense in 1995, where he found his passion. He has obtained jury verdicts for physician defendants in such areas as general surgery, emergency medicine, obstetrics, neurosurgery, interventional radiology, oral surgery, and chiropractic care, among others. Success in the medical malpractice defense arena led attorneys to request Charlie to represent them in professional liability cases as well. His “case within the case” matters have included personal injury, real estate and workers’ compensation matters.
Charlie is South Carolina counsel for a national group of neonatology practices. In representing this client, he has expanded his expertise in birth trauma cases and fully understands the types of diseases that can inflict a newborn. These cases are typically catastrophic in nature, and require the development of knowledge in standards of care, causation and damages.
Charlie is a member and past president of the Palmetto Mastersingers, an all-male choral group known as South Carolina’s Musical Ambassadors, which travels throughout the state. He has performed at the White House, St. Peter’s Basilica and Notre Dame Cathedral, among other notable venues.
“It is a humbling experience to undertake the representation of a fellow professional who has been sued for an alleged deviation from the standard of care. It is also very rewarding to help the client through to a successful resolution.”
Representative Matters
Professional Malpractice
- Represented an attorney accused of mishandling a workers’ compensation claim. The claimant was a South Carolina resident hired by a Tennessee company to perform work in North Carolina. He was catastrophically injured in a job-related vehicle accident in Georgia. The trial judge agreed that Charlie’s lawyer-client could not have foreseen that filing for compensation benefits in South Carolina could have resulted in the Tennessee court’s denial of a claim under the doctrine of election of remedies. The claimant was rendered a quadriplegic in the accident, and the action against the attorney, if successful, would have resulted in an award in excess of $1 million. Charlie obtained summary judgment on behalf of his attorney-client.
- Regularly counsels chiropractors in malpractice cases questioning whether chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine can cause a vertebral artery dissection, resulting in stroke. Charlie has defended several of these cases, and has deposed experts on both sides of the issue throughout the country.
- Defended a neonatologist in a case alleging failure to diagnose group B strep infection in a newborn. The standard of care issues in this malpractice case involved areas of pediatric infectious disease, symptomatology, antibiotic therapy and causation. Damages issues included developmental delay, motor impairment, cortical blindness and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Charlie consulted with national experts in neonatology, infectious disease and pediatric psychological evaluation. After two mediation conferences, the case was resolved in his client’s favor.