Birth Injuries

Hawaii Birth Injury Attorney

We’ve Secured Record Results for Birth and Neonatal Injury Victims

Parents place their trust in medical professionals to keep their children safe and healthy during pregnancy and delivery. When nurses, physicians, or other health care providers fail to uphold their duty to provide adequate care, mothers or newborns can suffer serious harm.

If you or your child have suffered harm because of a provider’s negligence, you may have the right to bring a medical malpractice claim.

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Medical Malpractice, Birth Injury, Brain Injury, Sepsis, Medication Error Record-Setting Result $17,000,000
Settlement for a brain-injured baby.
Medical Malpractice, Brain Injury, Neonatal Injury, Surgical Injury Record-Setting Result $14,000,000
Surgery error on a 3-day old child resulted in brain injuries.
Medical Malpractice, Brain Injury, Birth Injury, Cerebral Palsy Record-Setting Result $11,400,000
Birth injury resulted in Cerebral Palsy.
Medical Malpractice, Neonatal Injury, Failure to Diagnose Record-Setting Result $11,000,000
Neonatal blindness injuries to premature triplets after failure to diagnose the condition in a timely manner.
Medical Malpractice, Birth Injury, Cerebral Palsy, Brain Injury Record-Setting Result $10,000,000
Record settlement for a birth injury case in that state.
Medical Malpractice, Birth Injury, Cerebral Palsy, Brain Injury Record-Setting Result $8,900,000
Record trial judgment for improper use of vacuum extraction and failure to timely deliver a baby (1985).
Medical Malpractice, Neonatal/Birth Injury, Cerebral Palsy, Brain Injury Record-Setting Result $8,000,000
Record settlement for a neonatal/birth injury in this Western state. The baby suffered severe spastic quadriparesis and relatively retained cognitive ability.
Medical Malpractice, Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury Record-Setting Result $7,600,000
Largest jury verdict in the world in 1978.
Medical Malpractice, Birth Injury, Cerebral Palsy, Brain Injury Record-Setting Result $7,100,000
Birth injury record settlement.
Medical Malpractice, Birth Injury, Cerebral Palsy, Brain Injury Record-Setting Result $7,000,000
Birth injury record settlement at the time.

Work With Our Award Winning Attorneys

At Bostwick & Peterson, LLP, our award-winning Hawaii birth injury lawyers have won record results in serious medical malpractice and birth injury cases across the Hawaiian Islands and mainland. We are available to review your case and discuss how we may be able to help.

Why Choose Bostwick & Peterson?

Over $1 billion in compensation recovered for clients.
Record birth injury results in Hawaii, California, Colorado, and Washington.
Attorneys named to The Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers®.
We work on contingency fees; if we don’t win, you don’t pay.

Bostwick & Peterson is a U.S. News “Best Law Firms” Tier 1 ranked Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury firm. We have helped numerous families across the Hawaiian Islands and mainland take on negligent providers and major insurance companies and win.

Have questions about birth and neonatal injury lawsuits in Hawaii and your rights? Contact us for a FREE consultation.

Backed By Record Setting Results

Since 2018, our firm has also twice broken the California record for largest medical malpractice recoveries with two record birth injury settlements (California imposes a cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice claims).

Examples of our birth and neonatal injury results:

$17 million birth injury settlement over brain damage in pregnancy – the largest present value medical malpractice settlement in California history (2019).
$14 million settlement over neonatal brain injury. At the time, this was the largest medical malpractice settlement in California (2018).
$11.4 million settlement over inadequate monitoring and failure to timely detect distress, resulting in brain injury and cerebral palsy. Largest birth injury settlement in CA at the time (2010).
$11 million for premature triplets who suffered neonatal blindness injuries due to retinopathy providers were alleged to have failed to diagnose. This was the largest settlement of its type in the history of Hawaii (2000).
$10 million settlement for birth injuries resulting in spastic quadriplegia and cognitive deficits. It was alleged that doctors failed to promptly deliver when fetal monitoring showed potential problems. This was a record birth injury settlement in the state it was obtained.
$8.9 million verdict in Federal District Court of Hawaii for a child injured due to improper labor management. At the time, this was the largest medical malpractice award in the Ninth Circuit (1985).

Read James Bostwick’s article on Medical Malpractice: Preparation and Trial of Birth Injury Cases as published in Plaintiff magazine.

Cases We Handle

Types of Birth Injuries

The main causes of birth injuries include:

Traumatic injuries, which involve physical trauma to the mother or child. These injuries often occur during labor and delivery and may involve excessive force, shoulder dystocia, brachial plexus injuries and Erb’s palsy, vacuum and forceps injuries, and fractures.
Oxygen deprivation to the brain, which can occur at various points during pregnancy, labor, and delivery. A lack of oxygen and no oxygen to the brain (hypoxic and anoxic brain injuries) can have devastating consequences, including permanent brain damage, cognitive deficits, and conditions such as hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and cerebral palsy.

Birth injuries can also be grouped into pre-birth "in utero" injuries and labor/delivery injuries. Whatever caused your child's birth injury and at whatever gestational age the injury occurred, Bostwick & Peterson is here to fight for justice on behalf of you and your family.

Medical Negligence & Birth Injuries

Medical malpractice at any point during a mother’s pregnancy and delivery can have life-altering consequences. Many birth injuries are caused by problems with blood flow. As soon as the situation is detected, doctors and nurses need to take immediate action to increase the oxygen supply to the baby, including performing a cesarean section if necessary. Physician or medical staff who fail to take appropriate actions can be held legally responsible for any injuries that occur.

Examples of medical malpractice that can result in birth and neonatal injuries:

Failure to perform a C-section / delayed C-section
Failure to monitor fetal heart rate or detect signs of fetal distress
Improper use of labor inducing drugs (i.e. Pitocin)
Failure to diagnose and treat complications, including maternal infection, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, etc.
Delayed birth
Improper use of vacuum or forceps

If you suspect that your child was injured due to labor or delivery mismanagement, contact a Hawaii birth injury lawyer from Bostwick & Peterson for a free case evaluation. We can review your case and determine if you have grounds to seek a financial recovery for your medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and future medical needs.

Our birth injury attorneys serve all of Hawaii from our Honolulu office. Contact us to speak with a member of our team.

Nationally Recognized Law Firm

The Inner Circle of Advocates
Invitation-only organization of the top 100 plaintiff trial lawyers in the U.S.
International Academy of Trial Lawyers
Former President of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, limited to the top 500 trial lawyers in the U.S.
Super Lawyers 2024
James S. Bostwick and Erik L. Peterson have been named top-rated medical malpractice attorneys.
American Board of Trial Advocates
An invitation-only group of top trial lawyers in the nation.
~Hawaii Chapter~
American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys
James Bostwick is a nationally certified medical malpractice specialist and founding member.
The Best Lawyers in America
Recognized since its inception in 1983 by this peer-reviewed publication, comprised of the best legal talent in the world.
Best Law Firms 2025
Recognized for professional excellence with impressive ratings from clients and peers.
The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers
James Bostwick & Erik Peterson are listed in the Top 100 Trial Lawyers.
Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum
An exclusive group limited to less than 1% of U.S. attorneys who have won multi-million dollar results.
Lawdragon
James Bostwick inducted into the Hall of Fame and featured among the Top 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers in America.
Expertise - Best Medical Malpractice Lawyers in Honolulu 2024
Selected to the 2024 Best Medical Malpractice Lawyers in Honolulu list by Expertise.
Expertise - Best Wrongful Death Attorneys in Honolulu 2024
Selected to the 2024 Wrongful Death Attorneys in Honolulu list by Expertise.

Why Choose Bostwick & Peterson, LLP?

James Bostwick Is A Nationally Certified Specialist By The American Board Of Professional Liability
Included In The List Of "Best Lawyers In America" By U.S. News - Best Lawyers® Since Its Inception In 1983
James Bostwick Received The Trial Lawyers "Presidential Award Of Merit"
Invite-Only Member Of The Inner Circle of Advocates, Limited To The Nation’s Top 100 Plaintiff Lawyers
Record-Setting Verdicts & Settlements In Four States, For Malpractice, Truck, And Auto Accidents
Best Lawyers® Trial Lawyer Of The Year In 2012

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