Attorney resource series

Ophthalmic litigation articles

Plain-language explanations of the medical issues that decide eye-injury and vision-loss cases, written for plaintiff and defense counsel.

By David B. Leach, MD, FACS

Expert-witness & case-review guidance6 min read

How My Expert Testimony Survived an Idaho Supreme Court Challenge

How firsthand knowledge of the local standard of care kept my ophthalmology testimony admissible in Newberry v. Martens, and what it teaches attorneys about establishing a foundation.

Read article →
Expert-witness & case-review guidance6 min read

Federal Rules of Evidence: The Opinion Is Only the Beginning

How Idaho Rule of Evidence 705 lets an expert state an opinion before the supporting facts, why those facts must still be disclosed in discovery, and the added community-standard requirement in Idaho medical-malpractice cases.

Read article →
Malpractice & standard of care6 min read

Preventing Ophthalmic Malpractice: Lessons From the Witness Stand

What ophthalmic malpractice claims reveal about diagnosis, informed consent, follow-up, documentation and how well clinicians engage with their patients.

Read article →
Malpractice & standard of care5 min read

A Bad Outcome Is Not Necessarily Malpractice

How ophthalmology experts distinguish a recognized complication from a departure from the standard of care.

Read article →
Cataract & refractive surgery claims6 min read

Complication, Known Risk, or Negligence?

A practical framework for reviewing cataract, IOL, LASIK, and PRK claims involving complications and informed consent.

Read article →
Causation & pre-existing disease6 min read

Did the Event Actually Cause the Vision Loss?

How ophthalmic record review separates accident-related vision loss from pre-existing, degenerative, or unrelated eye disease.

Read article →
Eye trauma & personal injury6 min read

What the Medical Record Must Establish in an Eye Trauma Case

The key medical evidence in personal-injury cases involving blunt trauma, penetrating injury, chemical exposure, or orbital damage.

Read article →
Visual impairment & damages6 min read

Why 20/20 Does Not Tell the Whole Story

Visual acuity is only one part of an ophthalmic damages analysis. Learn how fields, contrast, diplopia, and binocular function affect impairment.

Read article →
Expert-witness & case-review guidance5 min read

Preparing an Ophthalmology Case for Expert Review

A practical guide to the records, chronology, and questions attorneys should provide for an efficient ophthalmology expert review.

Read article →
Foundational eye anatomy9 min read

How the Eye Works — and Where Vision Can Fail

A practical guide to eye anatomy and how LASIK, cataract, glaucoma, retinal detachment, temporal arteritis, and trauma affect vision.

Read article →