Sanford M. Cipinko Wins "San Francisco Trial Lawyer of the Year"
Sanford "Sandy" M. Cipinko and Diane Josephs were recently awarded the prestigious 2012 San Francisco Trial Lawyer of the Year award for their legal representation in the Jeffrey Miller vs. Sutter West Bay Hospitals (dba California Medical Center and Sutter Health) case.
- San Francisco, CA (1888PressRelease) May 04, 2012 - Details of the case are as follows:
On October 25th, 2007 Mr. Jeffrey Miller was terminated subsequent to nine exemplary years of service with the Department of Transplantation, serving as Director. Mr. Miller filed legal action against CPMC for wrongful termination. The suit also alleges he was fired because he refused to take part in illegal activities that involved providing unlawful kickbacks to medical providers in exchange for a referral, the operation of a clinic that was not properly licensed and stealing from Medicare.
Dennis Blum and Diane Josephs, of San Francisco law firm Josephs and Blum, engaged Sanford M. Cipinko as legal co-counsel in June of 2011, following 3 years of extensive case preparation. With the trial scheduled for July 25, 2011 Sanford had a time frame of a few weeks to gain full understanding of the intricate legal action being brought against CPMC and Sutter Health, prior to advancing to trial. With a multitude of pleadings and approximately 25 depositions to review, the task was enormous, including one deposition that lasted for 7 days. A pre-trial offer was put forth by the defendants of $50,000.00 and a final offer was made in the course of litigation for $300,000.00.
As stated by Dennis Blum, "Mr. Cipinko began the trial with the most masterful voir dire I have ever seen". Cipinko made opening and closing statements and prepared the majority of key witnesses; in addition he interviewed the witnesses during trial, while Josephs and Blum continued excellent legal writing pertaining to the litigation. CPMC and their skilled defense team tried to use their immense resources to win the case by hiring a high dollar technology expert and four attorneys to work in their behalf. Hospital witnesses were well coached.
Defense counsel argued that Jeffrey Miller was caught in a number of lies while giving his seven day deposition. They went on to claim that Miller was not fired due to complaints he registered, but rather was dismissed because of radically declining job performance which had been documented in his performance reviews. In spite of unrelenting efforts by CPMC's legal counsel, the jury found CPMC guilty of the wrongful termination of Jeffrey Miller and in addition, found his firing to be a retaliatory act. The jury went on to award $1,096,883.90 to Miller. Mr. Miller then brought a motion for the defendant's to cover his extensive attorney fees, and the defendants settled the matter.
Sanford M. Cipinko, San Francisco personal injury lawyer, is a graduate of the University of California - Hastings College of Law and has represented personal injury clients in the Bay Area throughout a thirty year time span. He has wide recognition in the legal community in San Francisco and is known for his relentless advocacy for his clients, extensive case preparation, his hard-hitting litigation style and incredible attention to detail.
The Elite Lawyer Project congratulates both Sanford M. Cipinko and Diane Josephs for being the 2012 recipients of the San Francisco Trial Lawyer of the Year award, an award sponsored by the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association.
###
space
space
Satisfied Users & 
Approved Press Releases
Print
Email
Report Spam