Laura D. Eschleman

Georgia

Nall & Miller, LLP
235 Peachtree Street, NE
Suite 1500 – North Tower
Atlanta, GA 30303-1418

Tel: (678) 608-1712

Email: leschleman@nallmiller.com
Web: www.nallmiller.com

Laura practices in the areas of medical malpractice, professional licensing, medical board matters and hospital privileging issues and has represented numerous medical professionals including anesthesiologists, chiropractors, critical care doctors, dentists, dermatologists, emergency medicine physicians, family practice physicians, gastroenterologists, hospitalists, intensivists, internal medicine physicians, interventional cardiologists, medical oncologists, neurologists, neurosurgeons, obstetrician-gynecologists, oncologists, ophthalmologists, optometrists, otolaryngologists, pathologists, pediatric emergency medicine physicians, pediatricians, pediatric neurosurgeons, perfusionists, podiatrists, pulmonologists, psychiatrists, radiation oncologists, radiologists, and surgeons in medical malpractice cases and in front of their respective licensing boards.

In addition, Laura represents healthcare providers in Medicare, Medicaid, quality improvement organization and private health insurance company audits and administrative actions.

Laura further advises medical practices and physicians on their transition to a concierge practice model along with advice related to ongoing regulatory issues a concierge practice may face.

Laura also represents healthcare companies, staffing companies and mental healthcare facilities in cases involving claims of negligent hiring, negligent retention and negligent credentialing, as well as professional negligence, negligence, HIPAA breaches and intentional torts.

Laura has additionally represented clients in an assortment of cases including affirmative equitable relief, bankruptcy, catastrophic injury, commercial litigation, construction litigation, contract disputes, insurance coverage, legal malpractice and professional liability, premises liability, product liability, real estate litigation, trucking litigation and wrongful death.

A native of Atlanta, Laura attended the University of Georgia where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, in 2002.  She earned her Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, from the University of Georgia in 2005.  While at the University of Georgia, Laura was on the Editorial Board and was an Articles Editor of the Journal of Intellectual Property Law.

Obtained a dismissal with prejudice of federal and state law claims made by a pre-trial detainee against a psychiatrist in the Middle District of Georgia in December 2018.  (DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar, February 6, 2019, Vol 11 Issue 5)

Obtained a defense verdict for a physician’s practice in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in March 2017.  The allegations were based upon the physician owner of the practice’s performance of an injection.  The plaintiff alleged that the physician breached the standard of care in the physician’s sterilization techniques in both preparing and delivering the injection; and, he argued the physician therefore negligently caused a post-injection infection.  The patient claimed that in the days following the injection, he suffered severe pain, redness and swelling at the injection site and in the surrounding soft tissue.  Rather than returning to his physician, he presented to the hospital with multiple complaints and was diagnosed and treated for cellulitis.  The plaintiff further alleged he was at risk for sepsis, which required blood monitoring after his treatment and discharge from the hospital.  Despite the plaintiff’s contentions, a defense verdict was swiftly entered for the physician’s practice, and the physician’s record remains unblemished. (DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar, April 26, 2017, Vol 16 Issue 14)

Obtained a defense verdict for a physician and his practice in a medical malpractice case following a six day trial in Atlanta, Georgia in 2014 where the plaintiff alleged the defendant physician should have reappointed the patient every week to ten days following the application of a fiberglass cast for the diabetic patient’s fractured fibula.  Instead, the physician instructed the patient to return in six weeks.  The patient went on to have a cut from the cast which became infected and resulted in the amputation of the patient’s five toes and soft tissue from her left foot.  The plaintiff asked the jury for over $800,000 in damages.  The defense overcame an incredibly damaging pre-trial ruling barring evidence of the patient’s noncompliance and the resultant inability to have the jury apportion the parties’ comparative fault.  Despite that obstacle, the jury came back with a defense verdict for the physician and his practice. (DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar, July 2, 2014, Vol 13 Issue 26)

Obtained a defense verdict for a surgeon and his practice in a medical malpractice case in Selma, Alabama in 2012.  The plaintiff alleged the defendant surgeon severed the medial and lateral branches of the posterior tibial nerve as well as the dorsal medial and lateral cutaneous and plantar medial and lateral cutaneous nerves during surgery.  The plaintiff additionally alleged that the defendant surgeon altered his records to create fictitious office visits and that the defendant surgeon wantonly refused to see the plaintiff after surgery.  The plaintiff prayed for four million dollars in damages, including two million dollars in punitive damages.  Despite these allegations, supported by the plaintiff’s subsequent treating doctor, the jury returned a defense verdict for the surgeon and his practice. (DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar, October 24, 2012, Volume 11 Issue 42)

Obtained affirmative equitable relief in the form of deconstruction of a cricket pitch and a permanent injunction against the City of Fort Oglethorpe following a jury trial in Ringgold, Georgia in 2012.  The jury awarded attorneys’ fees in the amount of $80,000.00. (Read Article)

Obtained a defense verdict for a surgeon and his practice in a medical malpractice case in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 2010.  The plaintiff suffered an extremity amputation following the defendant’s surgery to the extremity.  Despite allegations, supported by the plaintiff’s subsequent treating doctors, that the surgeon caused not only the amputation but also CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) and phantom and chronic pain, the jury returned a defense verdict for the surgeon and his practice.   (DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar, June 9, 2010, Volume 9 Issue 23)

Obtained a defense verdict for a surgeon and his practice in a medical malpractice case in Charleston, South Carolina in 2009.  The plaintiff alleged that the defendant surgeon negligently performed tarsal tunnel release surgery by cutting a nerve and causing CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) in the plaintiff’s foot.  The plaintiff’s subsequent treating surgeon testified in the plaintiff’s favor and opined that the defendant cut plaintiff’s lateral plantar nerve.  Despite these allegations, the jury returned a defense verdict for the surgeon and his practice in under 10 minutes.  (DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar, August 26, 2009, Volume 8 Issue 34.)

Successfully moved to dismiss an accusation filed by the California Board of Optometry against an optometrist in 2011.

Successfully set aside, through judicial review, disciplinary sanctions issued by the Nevada Board of Optometry against an optometrist in 2010.

Successfully moved to dismiss charges filed by the Iowa Board of Podiatry against a podiatrist in 2009.

Successfully defeated a summary judgment motion brought by a real estate lienholder against a mortgage company.  Further defended the ruling in the Georgia Court of Appeals and Georgia Supreme Court.  The case is reported at Deljoo v. SunTrust Mortg., Inc., 295 Ga. App. 187, 671 S.E.2d 234 (2008) and is cited in secondary sources at Fletcher Cyclopedia Law of Private Corporations § 2467, Necessity and use of seal–Deeds, mortgages, leases and contracts respecting real property (2010) HN:  1,2 (S.E.2d); Georgia Real Estate Finance and Foreclosure Law § 3:1, The nature of collateral (2010) HN:  1 (S.E.2d); Georgia Real Estate Sales Contracts § 12:11, Mortgages and security deeds (2010) HN: 1 (S.E.2d); Georgia Real Estate Title Exam and Closings § 2-35, Security deeds (2010) HN: 1 (S.E.2d); Georgia Admissibility of Evidence in Civil Cases C33, Corporations (2010) HN: 1,2 (S.E.2d); Pindar’s Ga. Real Estate Law & Proc. with Forms § 21-16, Execution of security deeds (2010) HN: 1 (S.E.2d); Pindar’s Ga. Real Estate Law & Proc. with Forms § 21-18, Recording (2010) HN: 1 (S.E.2d); Ga. Jur. Corporations, etc. § 5:24, Statutory apparent authority; effect of attestation (2010).

Successfully defended a roofing company against claims of negligent construction made by an Atlanta, Georgia nightclub. The case was resolved in 2009 with no payment by the defense and full payment by the nightclub of amounts owed to the roofing company.

Obtained a bench trial verdict in favor of a shipping company for amounts owed in 2008.

Nall & Miller, LLP provides a wide range of legal support to physicians, hospitals, clinics, health care groups, health care staffing agencies, and other individual medical providers. The Medical Malpractice Defense & Health Care Law Practice Group includes the defense of medical malpractice lawsuits, hospital privileging issues, professional licensing and medical board matters, and the defense of various professional licensing board complaints. Our attorneys also serve as counsel to health care providers facing public and private regulatory audits.

Our Medical Malpractice Defense Attorneys have successfully tried medical malpractice lawsuits to defense jury verdicts in multiple states and have defended medical malpractice lawsuits and claims against individuals and entities in almost all 50 states. We have represented numerous medical professionals in medical malpractice cases and in front of their respective licensing boards. We have significant experience with psychiatric care and rehabilitation medicine, serving as primary counsel for seven psychiatric hospitals, outpatient clinics, and residential treatment facilities in Georgia.

Our attorneys have also represented both hospitals and physicians in Fair Hearings involving revocation or suspension of hospital privileges. Our Health Care Law Attorneys represent health care providers in audits, meaningful use inquiries, and administrative actions conducted by or on behalf of Medicare, Medicaid, quality improvement organizations, and private health insurance companies.

In addition to defense work, we regularly advise clients on risk management matters and issues relating to health care regulations, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), privacy and confidentiality, managed care, and the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA).

We routinely provide risk management seminars to facilities, practice groups, and state medical associations. Our Medical Malpractice Defense & Health Care Law Attorneys have addressed risk management matters at state, regional, and national professional meetings across the country for a number of years.

Though Nall & Miller has established deep roots in Atlanta over the last 70 years, we provide exceptional legal service to our clients throughout the United States and its territories. In addition to handling matters all over Georgia and the Southeast, Nall & Miller serves as national counsel for several of its clients and our attorneys have litigated in federal and state courts in nearly all 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Located in Downtown Atlanta, immediately off the interstate that bisects the city, and seven miles away by subway and freeway from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Nall & Miller’s location enables our attorneys, as well as our clients, to travel efficiently and expediently.

Much like its reach to other states has expanded over the years, Nall & Miller’s subject matter expertise has also grown. In 1952, as now, the firm was a litigation-oriented civil defense firm. Originally focused primarily on tort and insurance defense litigation, Nall & Miller has successfully applied its proactive philosophy, attention to detail, and sound judgment to a variety of practice areas, including transportation and trucking litigation, medical malpractice and healthcare, business litigation, and governmental and constitutional litigation, to name a few. At Nall & Miller, we work to provide corporations and individuals with client-driven service that is focused on efficiency, creativity, and teamwork.

Nall & Miller’s attorneys all work closely with our clients. We believe in effective and frequent communication with our clients. By listening to our clients’ needs and understanding their business environment, we are able to provide an assessment of a case or issue in the early stages of litigation. Commitment to our clients’ bottom line drives us to develop cost-effective legal solutions that achieve their goals. Simply, the depth of experience and expertise gained through the nationwide representation of our clients, coupled with the stability and continuity of our practice, makes Nall & Miller’s attorneys capable of swiftly and aggressively addressing our clients’ needs in all matters of civil litigation, wherever they may arise.