Medical Malpractice Law - Plaintiffs Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs
David P. McCormack
Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2021 Awarded Practice Areas
Biography
While spending many of his formative years focusing on product liability cases, David McCormack fostered his technical and analytical approach to developing cases from the moment of the first client contact up through the time of trial. That approach has served his clients well for almost two decades. David brings his dedication to helping his clients to every case, no matter the size or subject matter.
Recognized for his commitment and intensity, David has consistently been selected by his peers for inclusion in the Massachusetts Super Lawyers. In 2016, his argument and victory in front of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in Bowers v. P. Wile's, Inc., 475 Mass. 34 (2016) helped to clarify and strengthen Massachusetts premises liability law. Through jury trials, arbitrations and settlements, David has regularly obtained significant results for his clients, including the firm's largest medical malpractice award in 2016 and a $30.55 million verdict in 2019 with his partner Ben Zimmermann, which is among the highest medical malpractice verdicts in Massachusetts history. Although his focus remains on cases involving defective consumer products, medical malpractice, and other complex personal injury claims, David's intellectual curiosity also leads him to pursue and litigate cases outside of the firm's core litigation practice. He has represented clients in areas as diverse as NASD arbitration proceedings relating to corporate stock manipulation, a breach of contract case on behalf of a member of a world-renowned band, and complex loss of business income cases. David’s legal writings have been published in Trial magazine and the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys Journal and he has frequently been invited to serve as a speaker on panels discussing various areas of personal injury law.
David joined SUGARMAN as an associate after graduating law school in 2003 and became a principal of the firm in 2011. He is proud to have spent his entire career in the collaborative and client-focused environment at SUGARMAN
Overview
- Boston University School of Law, Juris Doctorate, graduated 2003
- Providence College, B.A., graduated 2000
- Massachusetts, 2003
- Massachusetts, United States District Court, 2004
- Massachusetts, 2003
- Massachusetts, United States District Court, 2004
- Boston University School of Law, Juris Doctorate, graduated 2003
- Providence College, B.A., graduated 2000
Client Testimonials
Awards & Focus
Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2026 for work in:
- Medical Malpractice Law - Plaintiffs
- Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs
Additional Areas of Practice:
- Personal Injury Litigation
- Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs
Awards:
- "Massachusetts Super Lawyers", Law and Politics, 2013 to present
- "Massachusetts Super Lawyers, Rising Stars", Law and Politics, 2008-2012
- Panelist, "Premises Liability: Strategies and Recent Developments", Boston Bar Association, 2009
News & Media
Case History
Cases
- Traumatic brain injury and eventual death following excavator accident
Settlement for the daughter of a construction worker who was struck by an excavator's boom on a large development project in Everett. The excavator operator knew that the worker was in the area, but failed to look and make sure that the worker was a safe distance away before the operator moved the boom and violently struck him. The worker suffered catastrophic injuries that eventually caused his death 3 months later. In addition to a host of safety violations and unsafe practices, SUGARMAN attorneys were able to establish that the excavator operator had been previously fired for unsafe operation by the same company that later hired him to work on the development project. The case resolved shortly before trial.
- Verdict in labor and delivery medical malpractice case
Following a two-week trial in Suffolk County Superior Court in Boston, SUGARMAN Principals Benjamin Zimmermann and David McCormack obtained a $30.55 million jury verdict on behalf of a child who suffered permanent and catastrophic brain injuries during his mother’s labor and delivery at a Boston hospital. The jury agreed that the nurse responsible for monitoring the baby’s heart rate and well-being during labor had failed to ensure that the baby was responding appropriately and that the nurse’s failure to comply with the standard of care resulted in the baby’s severe oxygen deprivation going undetected. The jury awarded damages for both the young boy and his parents.
- Medical Malpractice - Patient suffers debilitating stroke after not receiving medication
Pre-suit settlement of medical malpractice case for 61-year-old man who suffered major stroke after his doctors and nurses failed to administer a critical medication for two days while the man was a hospital inpatient following cardiac surgery.
- Wrongful death and serious injuries in Jamaicaway drunk-driving crash
Pre-trial settlement on behalf of family of a woman killed in a drunk driving accident as well as on behalf of two others who suffered serious injuries in the same crash. The drunk driver became intoxicated at a Boston bar and was attempting to drop off her passengers when she crossed a double yellow line on the Jamaicaway and struck another vehicle head on. The drunk driver’s blood alcohol level was later found to be almost three times the legal limit.
- Failure to Diagnose Lung Cancer
Settlement against Lowell-area radiologist for long-time smoker who underwent X-rays due to history of shoulder pain. X-rays revealed suspicious mass in patient’s left lung, but radiologist interpreted the X-rays as being normal, resulting in a 28 month delay in diagnosis.
- Arbitration award for death caused by respiratory depression
$2.2 million arbitration award in a wrongful death/medical malpractice lawsuit for the family of a 68-year-old man who passed away just 12 hours following a routine hip replacement surgery. The patient died from complications of respiratory depression caused by the standard post-operative administration of narcotic pain medications. The defendant nurse failed to notify a doctor or take appropriate clinical interventions once the patient began exhibiting signs of respiratory depression.
- Pharmacy dispenses wrong medication
Pre-trial settlement for man who developed severe Levaquin-induced tendonitis with resulting complications after his local pharmacy in Framingham dispensed Levaquin to him instead of a sleep aid. The error went undetected for two months.
- Defective product - Airplane cargo loader
Settlement in product liability lawsuit for a Boston airline worker who sustained fractures of his pelvis and hip when the safety rails on a cargo loader failed to activate, allowing a 1,500 lb. pallet to move off the loader and land on the worker after the pallet fell approximately 15 feet. The accident occurred due to a manufacturing defect in an electronic sensor used to activate the safety rails whenever the loader was in operation.
- Displacement of lumbar interbody graft following surgery
Medical malpractice settlement for young mother and her family against a neurosurgeon who failed to properly place a lumbar interbody graft during a fusion surgery. Post-operative stage diagnostic studies revealed that the graft was displaced and deforming her iliac vein and arteries. The patient subsequently underwent two life threatening procedures and was left with significant neurological injuries.
- Defective scissor lift injures construction worker
Settlement in product liability suit for construction worker who sustained severe crush and cardiovascular injuries due to the defective design of a safety device in an elevating scissor lift that allowed the lift to rise due to inadvertent contact with the joystick - the very hazard the safety device was intended to prevent.
- Medical Malpractice - Doctor's failure to diagnose heart attack
Settlement of wrongful death lawsuit against a primary care physician following the death of a father of two children who suffered a heart attack. The defendant doctor failed to appreciate the severity and cause of the patient's complaints and failed to properly interpret the patient's EKG readings.
- Craneway collapse at Fore River Shipyard
Settlement of wrongful death lawsuit reached for the four young children of a construction worker who was killed when a massive steel craneway in Quincy collapsed. The general contractor failed to develop an engineering or demolition plan for the dismantling of the craneway and made cuts that left a portion of it a free-standing structure without securing it or warning any of the workers at the site of the danger posed by the free-standing structure.
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