Robert Ross — Founding Partner

Ross won an astonishing $44.1 million verdict on behalf of a Philadelphia woman who suffered a brain injury as a result of medical negligence at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Ross convinced the jury that doctors at the hospital failed to recognize the adverse reaction Andrea Tate was having to the anti-coagulant drug heparin before she suffered a catastrophic brain hemorrhage. As a result, Tate is unable to feed herself, walk, or use the toilet.

The outcome in Tate v. Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania was the largest medical malpractice verdict in Pennsylvania in 2016, and was more than double the top medical malpractice award in the state for all of the prior year, according to The Legal Intelligencer.

Ross reached an astounding $18 million settlement on behalf of a child in a case involving a birth injury that caused neurologic disabilities. 

Before and during the jury trial, there were no settlement offers in the case that involved several doctors, a nurse, and a hospital. 

During the four weeks of testimony, Ross aggressively litigated the case, calling a series of expert witnesses. They included a maternal fetal medicine specialist, obstetrician, neonatologist, pediatric neuroradiologist, pediatric neurologist, rehabilitation life care planner, and an economist. He also successfully cross-examined numerous defense witnesses, including three obstetricians, neonatologists, pediatric neurologists, neuroradiologists, placental pathologists, and an economist. 

Following closing arguments in the case and as the jury was deliberating, Ross received and accepted an $18 million settlement offer.

In December 2017, Ross filed the first civil wrongful death lawsuit stemming from the high-profile murders of four young men buried on a farm in Solebury, Bucks County, outside Philadelphia. Ross, representing the parents of Mark Sturgis, one of the victims, focused his investigation on the circumstances surrounding the murders and whether others, in addition to those charged – cousins Cosmo DiNardo and Sean Katz – were civilly responsible for the senseless deaths. 

Over the past two years alone, Ross recovered well in excess of $100 million on behalf of individual clients.

Ross also won an $18.5 million jury verdict in a Pennsylvania case of medical negligence involving a 6-year-old girl. Doctors failed to consult a pediatric cardiac surgeon and failed to remove two benign tumors on the girl’s heart. As a result, she suffered neurological injuries and was forced to undergo a heart transplant, which greatly reduced her life expectancy.

Ross has also built a long resume of successful cases involving amputations, both as a result of medical malpractice and accidents.

In one remarkable courtroom victory, Ross was co-trial counsel in a case resulting in a $51 million verdict for a 4-year-old boy whose foot was torn off by a defective Philadelphia subway escalator.

Ross’s cross-examination at the trial of a key SEPTA official brought to light that the transit agency withheld documents, tampered with evidence and obstructed the legal process in the case. Those revelations prompted the trial judge to impose a $1 million contempt citation on SEPTA.

In another impressive victory, Ross represented a podiatrist whose foot was amputated as a result of medical malpractice. The woman developed a hospital-based infection, which went undiagnosed and untreated, resulting in the amputation. A jury returned a $20.8 million verdict in the Philadelphia medical malpractice case.

Among the many other Ross legal victories are the following:

• $17.8 million for an amputation injury
• $12.9 million for a wrongful death involving a medication error
• $8.5 million for neurological injuries resulting from medical malpractice
• $8.4 million for neurological injuries to a newborn
• $7 million for the failure to timely diagnose and treat pediatric cancer
• $6 million for a delay in diagnosing a cancerous tumor
• $5 million wrongful death recovery for a heart attack suffered after discharge from an emergency room
• $4.45 million wrongful death recovery for the failure to timely diagnose an infection
• $4.2 million wrongful death recovery for the failure to timely diagnose and treat sepsis
• $4 million wrongful death recovery for the failure to timely diagnose and treat colon cancer

Ross was lead trial counsel in a case that resulted in one of the largest personal injury verdicts ever in New Jersey. The case involved an immigrant from El Salvador who gave birth at the Atlantic City Medical Center and suffered extensive blood loss after the delivery. It took more than an hour for blood to arrive for a transfusion. As a result, the woman suffered cardiac arrest and brain damage. The jury awarded $22 million in the case.

Ross also secured $8 million for a factory worker who suffered an amputation after he became entrapped in a straightening machine he was operating. Through an extensive investigation, Ross was able to prove that the machine had been modified, and necessary safety pieces were removed, allowing the man to become entrapped.

Ross gained national attention for a case involving a peanut allergy that proved fatal for a young boy.

In the case, Ross successfully argued that the boy’s pediatricians and allergist were negligent for failing to warn his parents about the life-threatening nature of his allergy. Also, they failed to order an EpiPen, which could have prevented the boy from suffering anaphylactic shock and brain damage from eating peanuts. A jury returned a $10 million verdict. A month later, the prestigious National Law Journal selected Ross as “Litigator of the Month”.

In another headline-making case, Ross convinced a jury that a woman who died of malaria was prescribed the wrong medication by her doctor and that her disease was not timely diagnosed or treated. A $5.8 million verdict was returned in the case.

Ross has secured numerous multimillion-dollar recoveries in cases involving birth injuries, helping families to afford large medical and treatment costs for their children.

In one such case, Ross recovered $12 million for the family of a young boy who was born with neurologic injuries as a result of a negligently performed prenatal procedure.

Ross also recovered $7 million for the family of a boy who was born with cerebral palsy and other medical issues. During delivery, doctors failed to recognize the signs of fetal distress and failed to act quickly enough to perform a cesarean section.

Recently, Ross recovered $9.3 million for a Philadelphia woman who was paralyzed following spinal injections.

In his three decades as an attorney, Ross has represented clients in nearly every aspect of personal injury law, including premises liability cases.

For example, Ross recovered $10 million for the family of a young girl who drowned in a swimming pool.

In his career, Ross has also teamed with other lawyers to achieve spectacular results:

• $29.6 million settlement for the Pier 34 collapse in Philadelphia that killed three and injured dozens of others
• $25 million verdict in a medical malpractice case of a female doctor who died after a routine fertility procedure
• $15 million verdict for a Down Syndrome baby who suffered a severe injury after medical errors were made during surgery

In February 2012, Ross’s record as a litigator caught the attention of the South Jersey Journal, which ran a cover story exploring: “What Makes Robert Ross So Determined?” at “one of the most successful personal injury law firms in the field.” Read the story below:

Ross is a fellow of several prestigious legal organizations, including the American College of Trial Lawyers, which limits membership to merely one percent of the lawyers in each state, and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. This exclusive group is limited to 500 attorneys nationwide, and Ross is one of only 56 from Pennsylvania.

As a member of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Civil Procedural Rules Committee, Ross helped revise and update the Rules of Court under which lawyers practice in Pennsylvania.

Ross graduated from Cornell Law School in 1986 and Lafayette College in 1983.

Before founding Ross Feller Casey along with Joel Feller and Matt Casey, Ross was a partner in three other Philadelphia law firms: Cohen, Shapiro, Polisher, Shiekman and Cohen; Fox Rothschild; and Kline & Specter.

Ross is a member of the Barristers’ Association of Philadelphia, an African-American lawyers organization that provides more than $1 million of pro bono legal services to Philadelphians. He is also a past member of the Cornell Black Law Students Association (BLSA), a group representing future black attorneys.

Ross is a member of the Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and New Jersey bar associations, the Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Associations, ATLA/NJ, and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.