Defendant's Attorney: Andrew D. Holder

Description: Kansas City, Kansas personal injury lawyer represented the Plaintiff on a dental malpractice claim.

This is an action for dental malpractice. In a previous suit, Curtis Rodina sued Timothy T. Taylor, D.D.S., P.A.-the dental practice-and Sonya Cummings-an owner of the practice. He was awarded a default judgment for economic and noneconomic damages in the total amount of $285,000. Rodina then brought this dental negligence suit against Alberto Castaneda, D.D.S., alleging that Dr. Castaneda was the dentist who performed negligent dental work at the dental practice that caused his injuries. In this suit, Rodina filed a statement of monetary damages seeking $1,000,000 against Dr. Castaneda for his dental negligence claims. The district court dismissed the suit based on the one-action rule. A panel of this court reversed because when the district court entered default judgment against the dental practice and Cummings, it expressly made no apportionment of fault or determination of comparative fault. Thus, Rodina was entitled to a judicial

* * *

Legal issue Did the district court err by not allowing a jury to determine liability and damages in a dental malpractice case, relying instead on a default judgment from a separate lawsuit involving different parties?

Key Phrases Dental malpractice. Default judgment. Comparative fault. Prejudgment interest. Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights.

Outcome: Affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded for a new trial.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

Comments: