OVERVIEW

Emily G. Thomas has focused her legal career on aiding clients with special needs and disabilities. Her first interaction between the law and injury occurred while in high school, when her mother became disabled. Prior to college, Emily assisted traumatic brain injured individuals with their financial, healthcare and legal matters. She continued to assist the disabled during law school helping represent clients before administrative law judges in Social Security disability cases. Following graduation from law school and admission to the Michigan Bar, Emily began her career as an attorney at a leading medical malpractice firm investigating birth trauma cases. During Emily’s years of practice in medical malpractice and birth injury, she has assisted in obtaining numerous multi-million dollar results.

Emily is passionate about advocacy. In school, she was a semi-finalist in the Wayne State Law School Moot Court Competition and a member of the American Association for Justice National Mock Trial Team at Wayne State Law, winning trials in competition against other law schools. Over the course of her education, Emily drafted appeals to the Michigan Court of Appeals, the Michigan Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court. While in practice she assisted in drafting amicus briefs to the Supreme Court of Michigan.

In 2010, she received the Wayne Law Bacow Scholarship for high ethical and professional standards. In 2012, Emily published an article with a leading medical malpractice attorney on the economic contribution of medical malpractice actions to Medicare and Medicaid. In 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2018 she co-authored articles on birth trauma and medical malpractice litigation for the American Association for Justice’s Birth Trauma Litigation Group Newsletter. In 2016, Emily was a finalist for the State Bar of Michigan Regeana Myrick Outstanding Young Lawyer Award.  Emily has been listed by Super Lawyers as a “Rising Star” from 2014-2017.

Emily actively participates in several bar associations, including the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association, the Women’s Bar Association, and the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan. Emily is a member of the American Association for Justice, where she serves as Chair-Elect of the Professional Negligence Section, and as a member of the Birth Trauma Litigation Group. She is also a member of the Oakland County Bar Association, where she is past Chair of the Medical Legal Committee and a past Associate of the Inn of Court. Emily also is a member of the Michigan Association for Justice, where she is Chair of the New Lawyers Committee.

Based on her personal experiences and those of her clients, Emily believes that the judicial system often seems complex and intimidating to people with special needs and disabilities. Her goal is to help clients with special needs understand their rights and their case.

Emily is currently an appointed member of the Michigan Supreme Court Committee on Model Civil Jury Instructions, the State Bar of Michigan Civil Procedure and Courts Committee, and the State Bar of Michigan Negligence Section Council.

How I Serve Clients

I am a reflection of where I come from — being a caregiver and family member to those with disabilities, I work hard to be the voice for those who are unable to speak for themselves. My career is dedicated to serving victims of medical negligence who suffered life-altering injuries and disabilities. Given my personal experiences as a caregiver, I understand the every day challenges that those with special needs and disabilities face. I fight everyday to get my clients the support and care that they need after suffering preventable injury.

A majority of my career as an attorney was spent representing children with disabilities and other special needs in medical malpractice cases. Welcoming a new baby into the world is one of the most precious moments in life. Pregnant mothers and their babies are entitled to appropriate medical care. Their safety during the most pivotal moment in life should be ensured. Any patient placing their trust in a caregiver to use their knowledge, training and experience to provide appropriate care, deserves not to have their trust violated.

I am a peer to all of the families that I represent. I see in them myself and my loved ones, and I am compelled to let them know that their voices should be heard. Fighting for injured people in the courtroom is my calling. I am emboldened that through the courts I can make a difference for my clients: for women, for children, and for the safety of patients everywhere. Through the civil justice system I believe litigants and jurors can take steps to protect the rights of the most vulnerable and to build a better world.

REPRESENTATIVE CASES

Below are results that Emily has helped to obtain:

• $42 million judgment for birth injury as a result of mismanaged maternal infection resulting in cerebral palsy, brain damage, developmental delays, and learning disabilities
• $9 million settlement for birth injury due to mismanaged uterine rupture and untimely delivery leading to cerebral palsy & HIE
• $7.5 Million for kidney and brain injury after failure to timely transfuse a newborn
• $5 million settlement for birth injury resulting in Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) and cerebral palsy caused by the failure to properly monitor premature baby and to act on signs of brain dysfunction and impending respiratory failure
• $4.75 million settlement for birth injury resulting in cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities and developmental delays due to the misdiagnosis of fetal age, the failure to recognize and manage preeclampsia and fetal distress, and a delayed cesarean section
• $3.85 million settlement for birth injury resulting in cerebral palsy from HIE caused by the failure to act when signs of IUGR, chronic oxygen deprivation, and fetal distress were present; and a delayed C-section delivery
• $3.75 million settlement for birth injury resulting in cerebral palsy, cognitive defects, and developmental delays from birth asphyxia due to failure to order C-section delivery and incorrect administration of Cytotec
• $3.5 million settlement for delayed delivery and the failure to treat maternal infection, leading to cerebral palsy, permanent brain damage, physical disabilities and cognitive impairments
• $5 million settlement for birth injury from untreated maternal infection, leading to mild to moderate cognitive delays, learning disabilities, and cerebral palsy
• $4.5 million settlement for birth injury resulting in spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy caused by overventilation