Notable Cases collects representative work from Paul Cahill’s medical malpractice and civil litigation practice. The archive includes two kinds of posts: reported decisions in which Paul appeared as counsel, with the neutral citation where one exists and a link to the underlying judgment; and summaries of significant cases that resolved by settlement, presented in de-identified form where confidentiality obligations require it.
Settlements account for the substantial majority of medical malpractice cases in Ontario. Most matters that proceed to litigation are resolved without a contested judgment, often through structured negotiation, mediation, or pre-trial discussion. A case that settles is not less significant than one that goes to judgment; it is simply resolved through a different procedural path. Settlement summaries in this archive identify the clinical context, the alleged breaches of the standard of care, and the injuries sustained, while respecting confidential information about the parties.
The category serves several audiences. Prospective clients can see the range of matters Paul has handled and the kinds of outcomes obtained, both at trial and at settlement. Lawyers and judicial researchers can use the reported decisions as a reference for Paul’s appellate and trial work. Journalists writing about medical malpractice in Ontario can identify counsel of record on cases of interest.
Past results in litigation do not predict the outcome of future cases. Each medical malpractice claim turns on its own facts, on the available expert evidence, and on the specific procedural posture at the time of resolution. The matters in this archive are presented as a matter of record and as a representation of the kinds of cases the practice handles.
A settlement on behalf of the family of a man admitted with a heart attack who died overnight after his telemetry alarms went unanswered by hospital staff.
The Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the trial verdict in Shaw Estate v Handler, affirming the standard of care to recall a patient after critical CT findings.
Ontario midwifery negligence case study: failure to escalate to obstetrical consultation, postpartum hemorrhage, emergency hysterectomy, infertility at 30.
A settlement on behalf of a patient diagnosed with terminal metastatic cancer based on imaging alone, who lived for an extended period under a wrong diagnosis.
A settlement on behalf of a patient discharged from hospital despite signs of acute psychiatric illness, who suffered catastrophic injury within 24 hours.
A settlement on behalf of a 40-year-old woman whose hysterectomy was described as uncomplicated but resulted in injuries to both ureters and chronic disability.
A settlement on behalf of a woman in her 60s whose family physician dismissed three years of GI symptoms despite a known family history of colon cancer.
A settlement on behalf of the family of a 39-year-old mother of two whose breast cancer was diagnosed too late after a missed opportunity to investigate.
A 12-day Brampton trial led to a finding that an ER physician’s failure to call a patient back after new diagnostic information caused her death.
I represented the plaintiff in this surgical malpractice case. The trial judge found a breach of the standard of care, but the claim failed at causation.
A settlement involving a 65-year-old man whose ankle fracture went 40 days without orthopedic follow-up, leading to joint infection and below-knee amputation.
A jury verdict of $11.5 million for cerebral palsy, upheld at the Court of Appeal, following a community obstetrician’s failure to recognize and refer twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome.
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