David S. Woodruff

Nationally Recognized Medical Malpractice Lawyer

David S. Woodruff is an experienced and award-winning Colorado attorney specializing in medical malpractice, product liability, and other complex cases involving catastrophic injury and death. Listed in “Best Lawyers in America,” Mr. Woodruff is nationally recognized as one of the nation’s leading plaintiff’s medical malpractice attorneys. He has twice been awarded the prestigious Colorado Trial Lawyers Association “Case of the Year” award (2012 and 2022). He has been repeatedly named a “Colorado Super Lawyer” and appears consistently in 5280 Magazine’s annual list of “Top Lawyers in Denver.” He has been repeatedly recognized by Law Week Colorado as the best lawyer in his field: Best Plaintiff’s Medical Malpractice Lawyer 2014, Best Personal Injury Lawyer 2019, and Best Plaintiff’s Medical Malpractice Lawyer 2022.

Mr. Woodruff has recovered over $230 million for his clients with record-setting settlements and jury verdicts involving medical malpractice, hospital errors, and defective and dangerous products. His trial practice today focuses largely on helping injured children and their families. He has handled some of the largest and most complex child and birth injury cases in the nation and has received national recognition for his ground-breaking work in representing babies who have been injured or killed during the labor/delivery process.

Some of his notable achievements include:

• $88.5 million hospital settlement for a group of patients injured by a hospital’s failed sterilization practices, the largest known hospital settlement in Colorado (2022)
• $4 million recovery after jury verdict for a man paralyzed due to a hospital emergency department misdiagnosis, the largest jury verdict in Pueblo County history (2019)
• $8.6 million recovery after a jury verdict for a child injured during birth in Colorado Springs (2017)
• $5 million defective product settlement for a young lady injured by an exploding “Whipped Cream Dispenser” kitchen product (2017)
• $22.5 million settlement for a brain-injured child, the largest known medical malpractice settlement in Colorado (2016)
• $15 million jury verdict in Colorado Springs, the largest medical malpractice verdict in Colorado history at the time, for a young man who suffered permanent spinal cord injury due to an emergency department misdiagnosis (2013)
• $4 million recovery after a jury verdict in a case involving a misdiagnosed stroke (2012)
• $70 million arbitration award in a birth injury case in California.

Mr. Woodruff has twice received the prestigious “Case of the Year” award from the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, for his $70 million birth injury award (2012) and his $88.5 million hospital settlement (2022).

Additionally, attorney David S. Woodruff has been instrumental in changing the law in Colorado. In 2016, he won the landmark Colorado Supreme Court case P.W. v. Childrens Hospital, changing the law to protect patients. In 2021 he won another instrumental case in the Colorado Supreme Court, Camp v. Porter Adventist Hospital, on behalf of nearly 200 patients injured by a hospital’s failure to sterilize surgical instruments. In 2022, he once again changed the law, winning the landmark Supreme Court case Rudnicki v. Bianco and changing the common law to expand the rights of children injured in Colorado. He also co-authored and testified in the Colorado legislature to help pass the Colorado Candor Act, a groundbreaking law that helps patients and physicians resolve cases without lawsuits.

Education & Legal Career

Mr. Woodruff is a former Assistant Attorney General of Texas. He was raised in a family of physicians, attended college at Southern Methodist University, and received his Master’s degree from the University of Southern California. He earned his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law, where he was a Presidential Scholar and mock trial champion. He spent many years defending doctors and hospitals in medical negligence claims but realized that he believed strongly in helping victims. For nearly two decades, Mr. Woodruff has devoted himself exclusively to representing injured individuals and families in catastrophic injury cases. As a father of four children himself, Mr. Woodruff believes deeply in fighting for children who have been injured.

Mr. Woodruff serves on the Board of Directors for the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, and is a long-time member of the American Association for Justice. He has also served on the Board of Governors for the Colorado Bar Association. In 2015 he was inducted into the exclusive American Board of Trial Advocates (“ABOTA”) for his excellence and devotion to the art of trial advocacy.

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Crime Stories With Nancy Grace - Jun 22, 2022