Louis E. Jakub, Jr.
T:  212-742-8700
F:  212-742-1471
E:  jakub@nygdc.com

 

Louis E. Jakub, Jr. is a partner and senior trial attorney specializing in the defense of complex medical malpractice cases including profound neurological injuries associated with childbirth, wrongful death cases attributed to delays in diagnosing cancer and cases based upon poor surgical outcome.  Mr. Jakub has successfully defended numerous physicians and hospitals in New York’s most challenging venues.

Mr. Jakub is a member of The New York Medical Defense Bar Association and has served as a faculty member for the New York City Bar Center’s Litigation Skills Workshop.

In 2010 and 2011 Mr. Jakub was chosen for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, a peer-selected legal guide to outstanding attorneys in various areas of practice.  Since 2007, Mr. Jakub has been selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers, another peer-nominated and selected publication.   

Education
Glassboro State College, B.A. with honors 1990
New York Law School, J.D. 1994

Recent Courtroom Successes

Mr. Jakub obtained a defense verdict on behalf of Staten Island University Hospital in a case based upon claims that the Hospital’s critical care physicians negligently managed a post-bypass surgery patient’s extubation.  The plaintiff, a 61 year-old married man was recovering from quadruple bypass surgery in the Hospital’s cardio-thoracic intensive care unit.  Several attempts were made to extubate the patient and wean him from mechanical ventilation.  Each attempt prompted combative behavior in the patient and an emergent re-intubation was required.  The patient was ultimately extubated five days after surgery.  However, following his discharge, he developed tracheal stenosis, underwent a tracheal reconstruction procedure at a New Jersey hospital and ultimately required a permanent tracheostomy.

He and his wife sought $12 million from a Staten Island jury, claiming that he was prematurely extubated and traumatically re-intubated thus causing tracheal stenosis.  During the four week trial, four Hospital physicians, two nurses, a physicians’ assistant and a respiratory therapist testified, along with five expert witnesses and the plaintiffs.  The jury returned a verdict in favor of the Hospital, concluding that the tracheal stenosis was a complication of prolonged intubation rather than the result of negligent post-operative management.
(Richmond County, Index No. 104443/07)

More recently, Mr. Jakub successfully defended a New York City neurosurgeon at trial in a case involving spinal fusion surgery in a 37 year-old man.  The neurosurgeon performed multi-level spinal fusion surgery during which a pedicle screw entered the neuroforamen causing nerve damage.  The plaintiff claimed at trial that the surgery was negligently performed in a minimally invasive manner and that the neurosurgeon failed to employ proper intra-operative sensory monitoring.  The plaintiff required several subsequent operative procedures and was left with permanent lower extremity nerve damage and an inability to walk without assistance.

The plaintiff asked the jury for $4 million to compensate for pain and suffering.  The jury returned a unanimous verdict on behalf of the neurosurgeon concluding that the permanent nerve damage was a complication of the surgery rather than a result of poor surgical technique.
(Richmond County, Index No. 103946/08)