Malvern Lawyer's Historic $1 Million Fine Tossed Out

MALVERN, PA -- A pending fine of $1 million against a Malvern lawyer has been thrown out once and for all after years of dispute.

Attorney Nancy Raynor was fined and heavily sanctioned after allegedly soliciting banned testimony. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has overturned an appeal of the previous decision to toss out the fine, which, according to Philly.com, would have been the largest sanction in a civil case in Philadelphia history.

A $1 million sanction against a Malvern-based lawyer when an expert witness revealed information deemed inadmissable will stand, according to a Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas judge.

Raynor served as lead defense for Roxborough Memorial Hospital during a 2012 medical malpractice suit. The family of Rosalind Wilson blamed her cancer-related death on the hospital for allegedly failing to inform her of a detected nodule on her lung during a hospital stay in May 2007. Doctors diagnosed Wilson with lung cancer more than 18 months later and died shortly after in July 2009.

Acting as the executrix of the estate, Wilson’s daughter, Rosalind Sutch, filed the malpractice suit against the hospital that reached trial in 2012. They argued that bringing up Wilson's smoking history would would unfairly distract jurors from the hospital’s responsibility to inform patients of x-ray results. Judge Panepinto agreed: smoking was not allowed to be mentioned in testimony, and attorneys were ordered to tell their witnesses to refrain from bringing up the smoking.

Nonetheless, one of Raynor’s experts blurted it out during testimony.

Panepinto slapped Raynor with the fine and later ruled a mistrial, banning the attorney from representing the hospital and other defendants in the case. A new trial resulted in a $2 million verdict for the plaintiffs. Raynor was ordered to pay $615,349 in attorney fees to Klehr Harrison Harvey Branzburg, $160,612 to Messa & Associates, and $170,235 to Sutch, according to the sanctions order.

Witnesses later proved Raynor's innocence, stating that they heard her order the witnesses not to mention smoking.

Patch file photo.