Patrick A. Malone

Patrick Malone is a leading patient safety advocate and attorney who represents seriously injured people in medical malpractice lawsuits, product liability cases and other types of lawsuits. Mr. Malone has won a long string of exceptional verdicts and settlements on behalf of his clients. He is the co-author of an acclaimed book teaching other attorneys how to win cases: Rules of the Road: A Plaintiff’ Lawyer’s Guide to Proving Liability.

Attorney Malone’s verdict in Benedi v. McNeil PPC remains one of the largest collected judgments against a pharmaceutical company. Mr. Malone was the president in 2005-06 of the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C.

Mr. Malone frequently is invited to give educational lectures to lawyer groups around the country and also speaks publicly to patients and health care providers about improving the safety of our health care system. He is a member of several prestigious invitation-only lawyer societies, including the Inner Circle of Advocates, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and Litigation Counsel of America. Patrick Malone has been recognized as a leader in the field by the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America, The Best Lawyers in America, Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers, and the Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Lawyers in America.

The Life You Save

Attorney Malone appeared on the Today Show to discuss his book for patients, The Life You Save: Nine Steps to Finding the Best Medical Care – and Avoiding the Worst.

Attorney Malone’s Story

Patrick Malone is a son of the Midwest. He grew up in an Irish Catholic family in Wichita, Kansas, the oldest of seven children. After graduating summa cum laude from the University of Kansas, he worked as a reporter for United Press International in Kansas City, then won a prestigious journalism fellowship at the University of Michigan, where he studied public health issues and wrote freelance articles for the Washington Post. Malone then worked as a medical writer and investigative reporter for the Miami Herald, where he won a number of awards, including a finalist designation for the Pulitzer Prize for a series co-authored on “dangerous doctors.”

After he was accepted at Yale Law School, Malone and his wife Vicki sold their home in Miami and moved to a rental apartment in New Haven, Connecticut with their infant son. They had one more son while at Yale and a third after moving to the Washington area. At Yale, Malone won several student awards, including best “moot court” argument. He worked for a year after graduating for a prominent federal judge, U.S. District Judge Gerhard Gesell in Washington, D.C. In 1985, Patrick Malone began his career as an attorney representing seriously injured people.

• District of Columbia, 1986
• Maryland, 1985
• Virginia, 1986

• Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America (2008, 2009)
• The Best Lawyers in America (2006 edition to present)
• Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Lawyers in America (2007)
• Irish Legal 100 (2009 to present) (leading Irish-American lawyers)
• Lawyer of the Year, Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, DC, 1995.
• Frederick Abramson Award, D.C. Bar, June 1998 (pro bono service)
• Martindale-Hubbell: “AV” rated (top rating).
• Yale Law School: Harlan Fiske Stone Prize and Potter Stewart Prize for best moot court efforts; C. LaRue Munson Prize for legal clinic work; editor of the Yale Law Journal.
• Journalism awards (prior to legal career): finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1980 for a series of articles co-authored on “Dangerous Doctors”
• Other journalism awards: Florida Medical Association, best newspaper medical writer in the state, 1980 and 1981; The Newspaper Guild, Heywood Broun Award, 1980; American Bar Association, Gavel Award, 1980; Sigma Delta Chi, Distinguished Service Award, 1980; National Headliners Club Award, 1980; Women in Communications, Clarion Award, 1980; American Academy of Family Physicians, 2nd prize, 1981.
• College: University of Kansas, 1972: summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.

• The Inner Circle of Advocates, which limits its membership to 100 of the best plaintiffs’ personal injury attorneys in the United States.
• International Academy of Trial Lawyers. The IATL  is an invitation-only honorary society limited to 500 fellows from both the plaintiff’s and defense bar.  Its mission is to promote the Rule of Law around the world and to elevate standards of integrity, honesty and courtesy in the legal profession.
• The American Law Institute, an organization of judges, lawyers and legal scholars that regularly publishes Restatements of the Law, model codes, and legal studies, as the ALI states: “to promote the clarification and simplification of the law and its better adaptation to social needs, to secure the better administration of justice, and to encourage and carry on scholarly and scientific legal work.”
• National Academy of Sciences’ Panel on Law, Science and Technology (member for two terms, 2000-2006).
• National Board of Trial Advocacy: Certified civil trial advocate, 1999 to present. The NBTA is a certifying agency accredited by the American Bar Association.  To qualify for NBTA certification, lawyers must have extensive experience in their specialty and meet several objective quality standards in addition to passing a written test.
• Litigation Counsel of America. This is an invitation-only honorary society of trial lawyers limited to 3,500 Fellows nationally.

Other memberships: Bar associations of Maryland, Virginia, District of Columbia; American Association for Justice (formerly Association of Trial Lawyers of America); Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. (president 2005-2006); Virginia Trial Lawyers Association; Maryland Trial Lawyers Association; Public Justice (formerly Trial Lawyers for Public Justice); The Counsellors (president 2002-2003).

• NBC’s Today Show
• ABC News Good Morning Show
• “The People’s Pharmacy”, with Joe and Terry Graedon
• KSFR radio, “The Journey Home” show
• The Jim Bohannon Show, Westwood One
• The Gil Gross Show, KGO radio, San Francisco
• The Law Business Insider

• Some Recent Lectures by Patrick Malone
• “Doing Good and Doing Well: Why Non-Monetary Justice Is Important,” American Association for Justice, Baltimore, July 2014
• “Advanced Lessons in Rules of the Road for Medical Negligence Cases,” American Association for Justice, Baltimore, July 2014
• “Rules of the Road in Employment Cases,” National Employment Lawyers Association, Boston, June 2014
• “Rules of the Road,” Missouri Association for Justice, Lake of the Ozarks, MO, June 2014
• “Crafting and Using Rules of the Road to Win Your Case,” West Virginia Association for Justice, Charleston, W.Va., June 2014
• “Rules of the Road in Depositions,” D.C. Trial Lawyers Association, Washington, D.C., March 2014
• “The Lord High Chancellor, David’s Smooth Stones, and the Rules of the Road,” Florida Justice Association, Orlando, FL, February 2014
• “Doing Good: Non-Monetary Results in Personal Injury Cases,” Inner Circle of Advocates, Aspen, CO, August 2013
• “Cross-Examining Experts with the Rules of the Road,” and “ Informed Consent: the Power of Knowledge,” American Association of Justice 2013 Annual Convention, San Francisco, CA, July 2013
• “New Developments in ‘Rules’ in Medical Malpractice Cases,” Medical Negligence Information Exchange Group, San Francisco, CA, July 2013
• “Comments on the Role of Popular Opinion in Judicial Decision Making,” Pound Institute Annual Forum, San Francisco, CA, July 2013
• “Forcing the Defendant into Your Corral,” Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association, Cheyenne, WY, June 2013
• “Winning Medical Negligence Cases with Rules of the Road Featuring Patrick Malone,” AAJ Education’s Seminar, Scottsdale, AZ, March 2013
• “The Problem of Pain: Legal Frontiers in Proving the Pain of Others,” American Bar Association Webinar, February 2013
• “Trapping the Defendant with the Rules of the Road Technique,” AAJ Education’s Weekend with the Stars Seminar, New York, NY, December 2012
• “Cross-Examining Experts with the Rules of the Road Technique,” Kansas Association for Justice, Kansas City, MO, November 2012
• “Forcing the Defendant into Your Corral,” Nevada Association for Justice, San Diego, CA, October 2012
• “Cross-Examination with the Rules of the Road,” D.C. Trial Lawyers Association, Washington, D.C., October 2012
• “2012 Ethics for the Trial Lawyer” Webinar Course Number VTZ111, October  2012
• “Unethical Secret Settlements”, AAJ Annual Convention, Chicago, IL, July 2012
• “Winning Medical Negligence Cases with Rules of the Road,” AAJ Seminar in Las Vegas, NV, June 2012
• “Winning Medical Malpractice Cases with the Rules of The Road,” Ohio Association for Justice annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio, May 2012
• “Secret settlements: Bad for everyone but wrongdoers,” Kansas Association for Justice, annual meeting in Kansas City, December 2011.
• “Appellate case review,” District of Columbia Superior Court, civil trial judges, December 2011.
• “OsiriX software for viewing medical imaging: a professional radiology workstation on your laptop,” Etheridge Society annual meeting, October 2011, and Inner Circle of Advocates annual meeting, August 2011
• “Rules of the Road in Employment Cases,” Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association, April 2011.
• Rules of the Road and Secret Settlement talks at New Jersey Association for Justice Boardwalk convention, Atlantic City, April 2011.
• Rules of the Road, Iowa trial lawyers, Des Moines, April 2011.
• “Rules of the Road – Advanced Techniques,” Delaware Trial Lawyers Association, December 2010.
• “Appellate case review,” District of Columbia Superior Court, civil trial judges, December 2010.
• Secret settlements: unethical and bad for your practice, Arkansas trial lawyers, November 2010.
• Secret settlements: unethical and bad for your practice, California consumer attorneys annual convention, San Francisco, November 2010.
• “Proving subtle brain damage in a child,” American Association for Justice annual convention, Vancouver, B.C., July 2010.
  “Why secret settlements are unethical,” American Association for Justice annual convention, Vancouver, B.C., July 2010.
  “New techniques for winning cases with the ‘Rules of the Road’ method,” Pennsylvania Association for Justice, Bedford Springs, Pa., June 2010.
• “Why secret settlements are unethical,” American Association for Justice teleseminar, March 2010.
  “What Aristotle can teach us about the art of persuasion,” Brain Injury Association of America, executives conference, February 2010, San Antonio.
• “New appellate cases and medical malpractice law review,” District of Columbia Superior Court, civil trial judges, December 2009.
• “Rules of the Road” talks at trial lawyer meetings in Richmond, Va. (VTLA), Las Vegas, Nv. (AAJ Mega-Seminar), San Francisco (AAJ annual meeting).  July-October 2009.
• “Rules of the Road,” Atlantic Provinces (Canada) Trial Lawyers Association, St. John’s, Newfoundland, June 2009
• “Rules of the Road: Advanced Techniques,” Indiana Trial Lawyers Association, Indianapolis, May 2009
  “Rules of the Road in Brain Injury Cases,” Brain Injury Association of America, Las Vegas, May 2009
  “Rules of the Road,” joint meeting of Maryland and D.C. Trial Lawyers Associations, Washington, D.C., January 2009.
  “Important case law you must know about,” D.C. Trial Lawyers Association, January 2009.
  “New appellate cases,” District of Columbia Superior Court, civil trial judges, December 2008.
  “Rules of the Road – Refining the Rules,” American Association for Justice, Las Vegas, October 2008.
  “Rules of the Road,” Ohio Association for Justice, Cleveland, October 2008.
• “Rules of the Road for Professional Negligence Cases,” American Association for Justice annual convention, Philadelphia, July 2008
• “Rules of the Road,” ATLA-New Jersey annual Boardwalk seminar, Atlantic City, May 2008
• “Lincoln’s Second Inaugural: Lessons for Trial Lawyers from a Great Speech,” Inner Circle of Advocates, Boston, August 2007
• “Cross-Examination of a Defense Medical Examiner: Model Demonstration,” American Association for Justice annual convention, Chicago, July 2007.
• “Rules of the Road,” North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers annual convention, Sunrise Beach, N.C., June 2007.
• “Rules of the Road,” Virginia Trial Lawyers Association annual convention, Greenbrier Hotel, W.Va., April 2007.
• “Rules of the Road: A Plaintiff Lawyer’s Guide to Proving Liability.” Association of Trial Lawyers of America, “Weekend with the Stars,” New York City, December 2006.
• “Rules of the Road,” Kansas Trial Lawyers Association annual convention, Kansas City, December 2006.
• “Avoiding Reversal and other Pitfalls,” District of Columbia Superior Court, civil trial judges, November 2006.
• “Successful wrongful death damages arguments,” Etheridge Society, Charlottesville, Va., October 2006.
• “Closing argument on wrongful death damages,” Inner Circle of Advocates, Seattle, Wa., August 2006.
• “Rules of the Road,” D.C. Trial Lawyers Association spring seminar, Washington, D.C., March 2006.
• “Reversed! Avoiding Trouble with the D.C. Court of Appeals,” District of Columbia Superior Court, civil calendar trial judges, December 2005
• “Peril and Promise: Expert Witnesses in Medical Malpractice Cases Face the Daubert/Frye Admissibility Tests,” Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Arlington, Virginia, October 2005
• “Motions Practice in Big Cases,” Inner Circle of Advocates, New York City, August 2005
• “Confessions of a Recovering Power Point-Aholic,” Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Toronto, July 2005
• Daubert Litigation Group, seminar moderator, ATLA, Toronto, July 2005
• “Ten Key Principles for Winning Money Damages Commensurate With Your Client’s Injury,” Maryland Trial Lawyers Association, Baltimore, June 2005. Same topic, Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C., March 2005.
• Panel discussion on voir dire and the Batson rule, D.C. Judicial Conference, May 2005.

The following is a sampling of the books, articles and chapters written by lead attorney Patrick Malone.

• The Life You Save: Nine Steps to Finding the Best Medical Care — and Avoiding the Worst, by Patrick Malone (Da Capo Lifelong, 2009).  This book distills Patrick Malone’s thirty years of work in patient advocacy into a simple but comprehensive set of guidelines for how to get the best out of our health care system — and how to avoid having tragedy strike you or your family.
• Rules of the Road: A Plaintiff Lawyer’s Guide to Proving Liability, by Rick Friedman and Patrick Malone (Trial Guides, revised and expanded 2nd edition 2010). This book has been praised by top lawyers as “must reading” for both experienced and novice trial lawyers. As one reviewer wrote: “Two brilliant lawyers, Malone and Friedman, who also happen to be brilliant advocacy writers, have written an easy–to–use, hard–to–undermine approach that will serve plaintiff’s attorneys in almost every kind of trial. This is not a book of small arms. It’s major artillery.”
• Winning Medical Malpractice Cases With the Rules of the Road Technique, by Rick Friedman and Patrick Malone: This book provides essential advice not merely for malpractice cases but also for all civil cases.

Here is a selection of articles written by attorney Patrick Malone:

• “Paying It Forward by Pressing for Safety Changes” (Trial, June 2014).
• Unethical Secret Settlements: Just Say No (by Patrick Malone & Jon Bauer) Also view this article on Social Science Research Network.
• Lessons for Trial Lawyers from Lincoln’s Greatest Speech – The Second Inaugural
• Medical Malpractice in Managing Diabetes
• Working with Experts in the Daubert Era
• The Role of FDA Approval in Drug Cases
• A Trial Lawyer Sings Psalms
• Expert Witnesses and the D.C. Court of Appeals

Additional Publications

• Maryland Tort Damages (chapter on admissibility of expert testimony) (MICPEL: 2000 and 2006 editions)