Caroline Smith is a partner in the Boston office. She concentrates her practice in hospital and medical malpractice defense and represents hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals in medical malpractice claims. She also has extensive experience in defending health providers in Board disciplinary matters.
Awards & Recognition
- Caroline has been included in the 2023 and 2024 edition of the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch. Attorneys included in this list have been nominated by their peers and is based on a peer-review voting system.
Prior to joining Adler Cohen, Caroline gained experience in medical malpractice defense at a large litigation firm, where she worked as an associate and later became a partner. She attended and completed the 48th Annual International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) Trial Academy at Stanford University in 2022. While in law school, Caroline worked at a civil litigation firm, focusing on medical malpractice. She served as an Executive Comment and Note Editor on the New England Law Review, and her note entitled, “Who’s Your Daddy?: Reproductive Technology and Defining Consent in Okoli v. Okoli” was published in 2013. See 48 New. Eng. L. Rev. On Remand 35 (2013).
Recent successful results Caroline has contributed to obtaining on behalf of her clients including the following:
Noel Dumas and Caroline Smith obtained a defense verdict in a three-week (full days) medical malpractice trial before Judge Barrett in Middlesex Superior Court in Lowell. The Plaintiff alleged that a hospitalist, radiologist, and two nurses were negligent in the treatment and care they provided to the Plaintiff after he was admitted to the hospital for observation of TIA/stroke. The Plaintiff alleged that as a result of Defendants’ alleged negligence, the Plaintiff suffered a large stroke leading to profound injuries, including severe brain damage, physical injuries, and paralysis. Plaintiff called nine (9) experts, three (3) fact witnesses, and all of the Defendants in his case in chief. Defense experts were Dr. Chris Roy (Hospital Medicine), David Thaler (Stroke Neurology), Ajith Thomas (Neurosurgery), and Karen Goudreau (Nursing). In the closing, counsel for the Plaintiff requested an award of $50 million dollars. The jury found no negligence for all Defendants.
Noel Dumas and Caroline Smith obtained a defense verdict following a ten-day medical malpractice jury trial in Bristol Superior Court. The trial was a medical malpractice case involving a patient that presented to the hospital due to stroke-like symptoms. The Plaintiff alleged that the hospitalist client failed to obtain and check on an ordered MRI/MRA and failed to send the patient out to tertiary hospital for endovascular treatment, leading to the patient’s death. The jury was out for a few hours and rendered a verdict in favor of the hospitalist.
Jim Bello and Caroline Smith recently obtained a trial victory, as the Plaintiff in their Barnstable Superior Court case voluntarily dismissed his entire case a week and a half into trial. The Plaintiff alleged that in January 2012, our client, a nurse practitioner, violated his constitutional rights by sexually assaulting him during a shower while the Plaintiff was incarcerated. The Plaintiff alleged that this alleged assault caused him emotional distress and physical injuries. The nurse denied any wrongdoing. Indeed, she testified that she provided a shower to the Plaintiff in order to provide a skin assessment due to his ongoing refusal to shower. The case has been ongoing for about five years. The Plaintiff presented eight witnesses throughout this trial, including our nurse. Our nurse provided passionate testimony as she adamantly denied the allegations against her. On the last day of the Plaintiff’s case, the Plaintiff’s fiancé (also a nurse) testified. Though she denied serving as an expert for the Plaintiff’s other cases, she was impeached on cross examination with an “Expert Affidavit” that she signed just a month prior. Moments before the Plaintiff was set to take the stand, he decided to dismiss the case in its entirety.
Jim Bello and Caroline Smith recently obtained a defense verdict in a wrongful death action after a two-week trial in Plymouth Superior Court. The Plaintiff alleged that our client, a radiologist, failed to measure and assess her cervix on an ultrasound when she was 18-weeks pregnant, leading to the loss of the pregnancy. The radiologist denied any wrongdoing. Indeed, he did measure the cervix and found it to be of normal length. In defending the case, our radiology expert opined that the cervix was of proper size. Our obstetrics expert opined that cerclage was not only unnecessary but was also contraindicated based upon the Plaintiff’s symptoms. Under cross examination, the Plaintiff’s causation expert conceded facts that were detrimental to the Plaintiff’s case. The Plaintiff’s expert conceded that he was unable to determine if the cervix was incompetent and agreed that cerclage may have even been contraindicated under the circumstances. Moreover, the Plaintiff’s radiology expert acknowledged that she did not review the study under ideal circumstances, and that another reasonably qualified radiologist could possibly conclude that the cervix was indeed visible and competent. After about an hour of deliberations, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the radiologist in this very sad case.
- New England School of Law
J.D., 2014
cum laude
Dean’s List, 2012-2014
New England Law Review, Comment and Note Editor, 2013-2014
New England Law Review, Associate Member, 2012-2013
- Villanova University
B.A., 2010
cum laude
Dean’s List, 2007-2010
Pi Sigma Alpha, Political Science National Honor Society Member, 2009-2010
Washington D.C. Minimester, 2008
- Massachusetts, 2014
- U.S. District Court District of Massachusetts
- U.S. Court of Appeals 1st Circuit
