Hard-Fought Win for Client Who Chose to Withdraw Medical Care from Spouse

In a heartbreaking case to which DWT lawyers and staff devoted well over 1,000 pro bono hours, a client who chose to withdraw all but comfort care from her 37-year-old husband—after he had been in a persistent vegetative state for more than a year—prevailed in L.A. Superior Court. Her sister-in-law, who was represented by a national pro-life group, challenged the client's right to make that decision. Twenty-one witnesses testified at the 16-day trial, including experts in Catholic doctrine and neurology. Jennifer Brockett was the lead DWT attorney, joined by Terri Keville, who was asked by Compassion in Choices to take on the case. Plaintiffs sought to have the matter dismissed as moot after the husband died during post-trial briefing, but the judge declined and gave DWT's team an important, 103-page decision affirming that an incapacitated person's spouse has priority as that person's presumptive surrogate for healthcare decision-making. Jennifer and Terri were assisted by attorney Dayna Nicholson, paralegal Ben Planchon, and executive legal secretary Lisa Hernandez.