Jason K. Winslow

Mr. Winslow is Co-Managing Partner of the St. Louis office. He maintains an active litigation and trial practice defending civil lawsuits involving malpractice claims against health care providers, lawyers, and other professionals.  He has also handled litigated matters involving commercial, products liability, employment, insurance coverage and general liability disputes for national insurance carriers, international corporations, and particularly in the health care setting for hospitals, physician groups, and individual providers. 

In the area of employment law, he has represented public and private employers in a wide range of litigated matters involving claims of racial, gender, sex, and other forms of discrimination, as well as health care institutions in matters involving privileges to practice medicine and credentialing claims. Jason partners with his clients to aggressively work up cases at their earliest stages with an eye toward developing a joint strategy for efficient management of each dispute, whether that involves alternative resolution or defense of the lawsuit through jury verdict at trial.

Health Care Defense

He has represented hospitals, physician groups, long-term care providers, mental health providers, and individual clients throughout the health care industry in high-stakes litigation involving catastrophic injuries, allegations of sexual assault, birth injuries, HIPAA data breaches, and COVID-19. Mr. Winslow has tried cases to defense verdict as lead counsel.  He also represents individual medical providers in licensing and disciplinary matters before administrative agencies.  While working at a prior law firm, he served as interim general counsel of a 200+ bed community-based Hospital.

Prior to joining GRSM, Jason served as National Health Care Practice Group Leader for an AM Law 200 national law firm.  He previously served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable William D. Stiehl, United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. During law school, he was Editor-in-Chief of the Federal Circuit Bar Journal, a member of the Moot Court Board, and traveled with the National Trial Advocacy Team.  From 2015-2019, he was recognized by Leading Lawyers™ as an Emerging Lawyer, a recognition given to the top 2% of lawyers under 40 years of age.

Admissions

• Illinois
• Missouri
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri

Memberships

• Defense Research Institute
• Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel
• Illinois State Bar Association
• Illinois Society of Healthcare Risk Managers, Programs Committee
• St. Clair County Bar Association
   

Representative Experience

Jason has defended over 100 health care lawsuits and tried cases to verdict as lead counsel. Representative matters he has defended include:

• Madison County: Represented OB/GYN and group in a lawsuit involving a 31-year-old female obstetrical patient who underwent an attempted vaginal delivery which resulted in an urgent Cesarean section, emergent hysterectomy, and a subsequent ureter transplant surgery. The patient sustained injuries that left her unable to bear children. The plaintiff maintained that our clients’ prenatal counseling was the sole proximate cause of the harm. After a six-day jury trial, the plaintiff asked for $2.0MM, but the jury rendered a verdict in favor of the defendants on all counts. Managed all phases of litigation from discovery through trial as lead counsel.
• Madison County: Represented radiologist and group in a lawsuit involving a 68-year-old female patient and alleged missed diagnosis of epidural abscess and spinal infection, requiring emergency multi-level lumbar spine decompressive laminectomy. The patient alleged that our client misinterpreted an MRI to show degenerative changes. After a six-day jury trial, the plaintiff asked for $1.25MM, but the jury rendered a verdict in favor of the defendant on all counts. The defense was based on a denial of any deviation in the standard of care and that the spinal infection existed at the time of the MRI read. Managed all phases of litigation from discovery through trial as lead counsel.
• St. Clair County: Represented health care system in claim alleging HIPAA breach of mental health information resulting in discharge of military veteran from the United States Marine Corp. After extensive investigation into the circumstances of the alleged breach, the background of Plaintiff, and evaluation of the overall exposure, the claim was resolved favorably for the insured and for a fraction of the initial pre-suit demand amount.
• Franklin County: Represented general surgeon and group in a lawsuit involving a 63-year-old male who underwent allegedly negligent ventral hernia repair surgery, resulting in complications requiring subsequent revisionary surgery, ischemic bowel, and removal of the small bowel. The patient developed post-operative short-gut syndrome with permanent disability with incontinence. The patient had incurred over $1MM in medical bills. The case was tried before a jury for six-days, and just before the closing argument, the case settled favorably for insured. Managed all phases of trial as lead counsel.
• Jackson County: Represented a podiatric surgeon in a medical malpractice claim involving a tendon release and reattachment surgical procedure that the plaintiff alleged was performed negligently, resulting in subsequent revisionary surgeries, chronic pain, and partial disability. The defense was based on a denial of any deviation of acceptable standards of care, as well as the assertion that appropriate informed consent was obtained. After more than one full week of trial before a jury, the plaintiff asked for $860K. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendant on all counts.
• Marion County: Represented a podiatric surgeon in a medical malpractice claim involving a calcaneal tendon lengthening procedure, resulting in RSD, subsequent surgery, and reflex sympathetic dystrophy. The defense was based on a denial of any deviation of acceptable standards of care, and a denial of proximate cause. Plaintiff sought $1.9 million in damages.  After more than 1 full week of trial, the jury returned a verdict for the defendant on all counts.
• Saint Clair County: Represented a neurosurgeon who followed a 42-year-old male patient after a Chiari malformation surgery performed by a partner. The patient allegedly developed bacterial meningitis, resulting in permanent brain injury and permanent disability. Our neurosurgeon client was dismissed without payment following depositions of all experts.
• Jefferson County: Represented a certified registered nurse anesthetist and group in a wrongful death case involving alleged failure to protect the maternal airway during an episode of vomiting shortly after labor and delivery. Our defense of the lawsuit involved not only standard of care but also causation, given significant evidence that unforeseeable amniotic fluid embolism had occurred. Following defendants' expert depositions, the lawsuit was voluntarily non-suited by the plaintiff without payment on behalf of clients.
• Saint Clair County: Represented OB-GYN and group in a lawsuit involving alleged negligently performed bilateral Salpingo-oophorectomy on a 58-year-old female for an ovarian lesion. Subsequent imaging revealed residual adnexal cystic tissue and mass, resulting in a subsequent surgery performed at a tertiary center. Following depositions of the plaintiffs' experts, the case was dismissed on behalf of OB/GYN and group without payment.

Publications

• Co-Author, "The Law of Medical Practice in Illinois," Chapter 31, Medical Malpractice Liability, 2022
• "What Defense Counsel Should Know About Electronic Health Records," The Medlaw Update, The Newsletter of the DRI's Medical Liability and Health Care Law Committee, July 11, 2019
• "Reducing recovery in 'lost chance of recovery' cases," Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, August 31, 2015

Presentations

• Presenter, "Comparing Medical Malpractice Laws in Missouri, Illinois, and Kansas," Healthcare Services Group annual claims conference, April 28, 2023
• Co-Presenter, "Electronic Health Records Litigation – Plaintiff and Defense Perspectives," Illinois Association of Healthcare Attorneys Annual Symposium, Webinar, November 9, 2020
• Co-Presenter, "Electronic Medical Records – Emerging Policy and Litigation Issues," Illinois Defense Counsel (IDC), Webinar, July 17, 2020
• Co-Presenter, "EHR Charting Practices and Configuration – reducing physician burnout and medico-legal risk," Illinois Primary Health Care Association's (IPHCA) Annual Leadership Conference, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, October 17, 2019
• "Common Pitfalls in Medical Malpractice Cases," Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network (ICAHN) Compliance Workshop, Springfield, Illinois, June 20, 2019
• "Electronic Medical Records in Medical Malpractice ‒ Secrets Unlocked," National Business Institute webinar, April 9, 2019
• Panelist, "Legal Update: 21st Centry Challenges: What Lies Ahead?," Illinois Society of Healthcare Risk Managers Annual Meeting, Springfield, Illinois, June 1, 2018
• Panelist, "Practical Considerations for Dual Representation," Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel Seminar, Chicago, Illinois, March 15, 2018
• Panelist, "The Difficult Deposition: Strategies for Preparing Your Witness," Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel Seminar, Chicago, Illinois, March 15, 2018
   

Education

J.D., George Mason University School of Law, 2007

B.A., with high honors, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2004 

Honors 

Recognized by his peers as an "Emerging Lawyer" in the areas of Medical Malpractice Defense Law and Personal Injury Defense Law: General