News

January 1, 2024. Pollara Law Group is proud to announce Frances Bruce, Esq. and Christopher Leon, Esq. as the firm's new partners! Our first additions to the partnership since PLG's inception, Frances and Chris bring experience and fresh ideas to the firm. Frances, originally from the Sacramento area, now resides in San Francisco and has practiced as a medical malpractice defense attorney since 2008. Her extensive knowledge and understanding of our field are invaluable assets to the PLG partnership. Hailing from the Midwest, Chris began his legal career representing injured persons on the plaintiff side. He now lives in Sacramento, and his varied background provides a unique perspective when supporting our clients and defending medical malpractice cases.

Congratulations to Frances and Chris!

Frances Bruce   Christopher Leon

November, 2022. Parysa has been featured in the book “Proud Americans: Growing Up as Children of Immigrants.” Written by Judie Fertig Panneton, the collection features people from all different walks of life who share a common experience: their parents are immigrants to the United States. They share their unique perspectives and how this has shaped them. In addition, Parysa has visited local schools to talk with students about the book and her personal experience as the daughter of immigrants from Iran. To learn more or to purchase the book, click here!

October, 2022. PLG is thrilled to welcome Frances Bruce, Esq. to our team of talented attorneys!

July 20, 2022. Our Associate, Christopher Leon, Esq., presented “Damages and Defenses: Why Medical Malpractice Cases Will Become More Expensive but Easier to Defend” CLE hosted by the Association of Defense Counsel of Northern California and Nevada (ADC) covering upcoming changes to MICRA.

June 3, 2022. Ms. Pollara and her co-counsel Frances Bruce from San Francisco received a defense verdict in Napa County Superior Court on behalf of their cardiothoracic surgery client in a case involving a patient brought emergently to Queen of the Valley Medical Center with an acute Type B aortic dissection.

December, 2021. Parysa Ghazizadeh sat for and passed the July 2021 CA Bar Exam, and she was sworn in this month.

December, 2021. In December, Ms. Pollara received three favorable decisions from the California Medical Board for three separate clients after full administrative hearings before the Office of Administrative Hearings in Oakland and Sacramento. In one case, alleging violations of Business & Professions Code section 729, the Board adopted the Administrative Law Judge’s Finding and Recommendations that the Accusation be dismissed. In a second case, alleging violations of Business & Professions Code section 726, the Board adopted the ALJ’s Finding and Recommendations that the Board failed to meet its burden of proof as to the substantive allegations and imposed a period of probation for record keeping violations. In the third case, involving an underlying criminal DUI conviction, the Board adopted the ALJ’s Finding and Recommendations for a limited probationary term with monitoring, a deviation from the Disciplinary Guidelines as argued by Ms. Pollara at hearing.

June 19, 2021. Dominique Pollara has been named “Trial Lawyer of the Year” by the Sacramento Valley ABOTA chapter! Her hard work and dedication to her clients, her staff, and the community do not go unnoticed, and we are fortunate to have her as our guide and mentor. Please click here to read our blog post.

June 14, 2021. PLG is excited to welcome a new associate to our team, Christopher Leon!

April 3, 2020. PLG has moved! Our new office address is 100 Howe Avenue, Suite 165N, Sacramento, CA, 95825.

December 5, 2019. Dominique’s article “What To Do When Things Go Bad: a perspective from defense counsel” was published in the Winter 2020 edition of the International Anesthesiology Clinics Journal. Please click here to read the article.

August 24 and November 16, 2019. Ms. Pollara spoke at the California Medical Board Expert Reviewer Training; speaking on “Expert Testimony at Hearing: The Defense Counsel’s Perspective.”

October 19, 2019. Ms. Pollara gave a presentation in Las Vegas at the Annual Conference of the California Academy of Attorneys for Health Care Professionals entitled “Representing Physicians in Prescribing Cases; Part II.”

March 2019. Dominique Pollara and her co-counsel Robert Vohl from Reno successfully defended an appeal from a defense verdict in a legal malpractice action tried in Washoe County District Court. In January 2017, Ms. Pollara successfully defended a Reno plaintiff’s attorney in a legal malpractice action where it was alleged he improperly dismissed a medical malpractice wrongful death action after discovery revealed the medical malpractice action was not meritorious. After the jury concluded unanimously that there was no medical malpractice, the legal malpractice case was dismissed and a motion for new trial was denied. Plaintiffs then appealed to the Nevada Court of Appeals. Ms. Pollara argued that appeal before the Nevada Court of Appeals which rejected the appeal finding for the defense. Recently, plaintiffs’ Petition for Review filed with the Nevada Supreme Court was rejected and the appellate decision has been published at 134 Nev., Advanced Opinion 75.

March 2019. PLG is proud to be a sponsor for the 17th Annual CCTLA Spring Reception & Silent Auction benefiting the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services which takes place in June of this year.

March 23, 2019. Dominique Pollara was pleased to volunteer as a scoring judge for the Finals of the High School Moot Court competition held in Sacramento, CA by the Constitutional Rights Foundation. This organization provides a variety of programs for students in Civics education. For more information, please visit their website here.

March 18, 2019. Pollara Law Group has welcomed a new associate to our team, Emily Guerra, Esq.

January 2019. Dominique was honored to receive the American Board of Trial Advocates Foundation Civics Education award for her work on the civics education programs supported by the ABOTA Foundation. Here’s a photo of Dominique with the other recipient Frederick W. James and the ABOTA Foundation President John R. Rodman.

December 20, 2018. PLG is proud to be a sponsor of the reception for the second annual Cruz Reynoso Community Service Award - Defensor de Justicia. This year, the Cruz Reynoso Bar Association is honoring Dean Kevin Johnson of the UC Davis School of Law for his extensive contributions to the community.

October 17, 2018. The California Medical Board recently adopted the decision of an Administrative Law Judge recommending an Accusation filed against Dominique Pollara’s client be dismissed in its entirety following a three day administrative law hearing in Sacramento. The underlying Accusation claimed Ms. Pollara’s client was guilty of gross negligence for allegedly failing to properly evaluate a patient’s unintentional weight loss. The patient later died of pancreatic cancer.

September 25, 2018. PLG is excited to welcome our new associate, Nicole Whatley, Esq.

July 8, 2018. PLG is a Platinum Sponsor for the Wags to Riches fundraising event for Scooter's Pals, an animal rescue in Nevada County, CA.

July 1, 2018. We are happy to welcome our new associate David Lang, Esq. to the team!

October 12, 2017. We are excited to announce that we have launched our blog!

August 30, 2017. Our thoughts are with all those affected by Hurricane Harvey. In hopes of helping the people and animals of Texas, we contributed to 3 charities that are providing relief assistance in Houston and the surrounding areas: RedRover, the Houston SPCA, and DirectRelief. In addition, the firm is matching 100% of the donations made to these charities by our employees. Please visit our LinkedIn post for more detailed information about the chosen organizations.

March 1, 2017. Dominique Pollara obtained a defense verdict for a cardiothoracic surgeon in Sacramento County Superior Court in a case involving the evaluation and treatment of a woman who presented to the hospital with a Type B acute aortic dissection.

January 20, 2017. Dominique Pollara obtained a unanimous defense verdict for her client in a legal malpractice jury trial in Washoe County District Court in Reno Nevada. The case involved an attorney who had represented a family in a prior medical malpractice action. The underlying medical malpractice action had been dismissed and the family sued alleging negligence in the manner the medical malpractice action had been handled.

December 8, 2016. Dominique Pollara participated as a panelist in a presentation on “Representing Physicians in Medical Board Proceediings” at the Association of Defense Counsel Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

July 28, 2016. The Nevada Supreme Court issued a decision in Humboldt General Hospital v. Sixth Judicial District Court (132 Adv. Op. 53) in a case argued by Ms. Pollara before the Court last year in a case of first impression in the state. The Court took the unusual step of granting a Writ of Mandamus and ordering the lower court reverse its ruling in a case where the lower court refused to dismiss a battery cause of action in a medical malpractice case.

The underlying case concerned a patient in whom an IUD was inserted. Approximately a year later it was discovered the IUD was not FDA approved; although it came from the same manufacturer and was produced in an identical fashion to FDA approved IUDs. The patient was notified and subsequently sued claiming defendants committed malpractice and a battery because she never consented to insertion of a non-FDA approved device. However, the patient did not attach an expert affidavit to her complaint as required in medical malpractice cases in Nevada. Defendants moved to dismiss the entire action as fatally defective due to the lack of an affidavit; the trial court dismissed the medical malpractice cause of action but refused to dismiss the battery cause of action holding an expert affidavit was not required. A Writ subsequently was taken.

The Nevada Supreme Court held that when the scope of consent is in issue; rather than a complete lack of consent, then an expert affidavit is required and because none was attached the complaint must be dismissed.

Special thanks to Margo Piscevich, Esq. and her staff in Reno. A copy of the complete decision can be accessed here.

May 20, 2016. Ms. Pollara gave a presentation at the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys Annual Meeting Entitled “Licensing Boards for Medical Professionals.”

April, 2016. Ms. Pollara and Ms. Raven represented a Sacramento OB/GYN at trial in a medical malpractice lawsuit involving a gynecologic surgery wherein the patient suffered an unrecognized uterine and bowel perforation and presented four days later, after several phone calls to the physician, in septic shock requiring multiple surgeries and an ICU stay. The jury returned a unanimous defense verdict exonerating the physician after deliberating one and a half hours.

April 19, 2016. Ms. Pollara was a speaker at the Sacramento County Bar Association. She participated in a panel presentation on “Growing Your Practice.

February 15 and 16, 2016. Ms. Pollara gave two presentations in Fresno on hot topic issues in obstetrics including hypertensive emergencies, postpartum hemorrhage and shoulder dystocia. The presentations were entitled “Labor and Delivery in Litigation – and 11 on the 10 Pain Scale.”

January 23, 2016. Ms. Pollara was a speaker at a conference on care of Transgender Patients in Modesto California. She spoke on “Legal Issues in the Care Of Transgender Patients.”

December 10, 2015. Ms. Pollara was a speaker at the Association of Defense Counsel Annual Meeting in San Francisco. She participated in a panel presentation on “Electronic Medical Records – The New Healthcare Landscape.”

December, 2014. Dominique Pollara, Esq. opened the doors of a new law practice based in Sacramento, California. The Pollara Law Group represents physicians, allied health professionals, medical groups, and health care facilities in medical malpractice litigation, licensing and disciplinary matters throughout Northern and Central California and Nevada. Ms. Pollara has practiced law since 1984, is board-certified by the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys, and has tried more than 38 cases to verdict in California, Nevada and New York.