Lawyer Sued For Missing Medical Malpractice Suit Filing Deadline

In April 2008, a Great Neck, New York attorney was sued because he missed the deadline for submitting paperwork to the court for a medical malpractice claim. The claim alleged that a New York urologist bungled a penile implant procedure.

The lawsuit against the attorney, Ira Podlofsky of the law firm Podlofsky, Hill, Orange & Modzelewski, was filed in Brooklyn Federal Court. Podlofsky was accused of missing the deadline for filing the necessary court papers by six months.

According to the claimant, Christopher Isabella, Podlofsky and his firm failed to file suit in a timely manner and carelessly allowed the statute of limitations to expire. Isabella was not only back to his previous state of impotence, but as a result of Podlofsky’s error, was unable to recover damages from the doctor who botched the operation. Isabella sought $10 million in damages from the Podlofsky for legal malpractice.

At the time of the surgery in 2004, Isabella was a carpenter living in Queens with his wife Natasha. He alleged that he suffered severe injuries when the doctor who installed the implant neglected to remove a foreign device after performing the surgery.

Isabella's new lawyer Peter Gordon described the doctor’s mistake as “boneheaded.”

The doctor’s name was not listed in the legal malpractice lawsuit and initially denied anything was wrong with Isabella when the claimant first voiced his concerns. Instead, the doctor referred him to a psychologist and told Isabella the problem was a mental one, Gordon said.

Isabella understandably feels a great deal of bitterness toward the doctor, noted Gordon.

The doctor finally performed another surgery in July 2005 to remove the device, after which Isabella retained Podlofsky. The attorney then had a six-month window to sue, Gordon charged.

After the deadline had passed, Podlofsky sent a letter to Isabella on March 6, 2007 that stated "After due reflection, we are going to decline to accept your case into our office."

Gordon felt that this would have been a “slam dunk" case for Podlofsky and has no idea how the attorney could have made such a serious error.

Isabella and his wife moved to Michigan with their child, which they were able to conceive when the implant was functioning properly.

Podlofsky would not comment on the suit, and his attorney could not be reached for comment.