Latha Raghavan

Latha Raghavan is an accomplished trial attorney who has taken numerous cases to verdict. Her practice involves defending complex cases. Her experience includes defending professional liability cases includes legal and medical malpractice matters. She has extensive experience defending long-term care institutions, nursing homes, and visiting nurses and home health care agencies in wrongful death malpractice claims, claims of violations of state and federal health regulations, and in common law negligence matters. Latha also defends civil rights matters, serving as defense counsel to municipalities and employers in a range of civil rights claims. She also has served as supervising counsel for carriers involved in defending civil rights class action. In addition, she handles complex product liability matters and general liability cases.

Latha is a member of the Diversity Task Force, which strives to conceptualize and implement diversity-focused programs and give diversity a voice in our decision-making at the highest level. Goldberg Segalla’s commitment to diversity is strong, sincere, and a critical component of our firm’s mission and culture. The individuals on this task force share the firm’s strong commitment to increasing diversity, and they use their unique experiences and backgrounds to support and advance that goal.

Experience Highlights

Management and Professional Liability

Latha’s successes in this area include defending a road-design claim on appeal following the trial court’s dismissal of the complaint. The plaintiff, a back seat passenger in a car driven by his friend, was severely injured becoming a paraplegic, as a result of a single car accident when the driver lost control at a blind hill and hit a utility pole. The plaintiff claimed that his car had to swerve around another vehicle coming in the opposite direction as they met at the crest of the hill. Plaintiff retained road design experts in support of his claim that the hill should and could have been removed when work was done on the roadway several years earlier. Deposition testimonies showed that either the driver of plaintiff’s car or the driver of the car approaching in the opposite direction failed to keep to the right of the roadway as they approached the blind hill but plaintiff argued that if the hill been removed years earlier then the drivers would have had sufficient sight distance to avoid sudden swerves at the crest. For the defense, Ms. Raghavan argued that since one of the drivers failed to stay to the right on this unmarked rural road with which both drivers were familiar, the County cannot be liable even if the road was not properly designed. Further defense experts showed that the Cornell Rural Road guidelines applied and were met.

Employment and Labor

Latha’s successes in this area include successfully arguing an appeal of the trial court’s finding that the defendant was strictly liable for plaintiff’s fall injury under New York Labor Law 240(1). The Appellate Division agreed with the defense that there were sufficient questions of fact warranting trial since although plaintiff’s scaffold plank broke, causing plaintiff to fall, there was evidence that plaintiff was warned not to use the cracked plank and there were other planks readily available. The Appellate Court rejected plaintiff’s argument that the defendants’ owner and contractor had an obligation to ensure that only sound planks were available.

Honors & Awards

Upstate New York Super Lawyers, 2018-19, (Personal Injury Defense: Medical Malpractice)

Super Lawyers, Corporate Counsel Edition

Publications & Events

Publications

•Co-Author, “ Legal Malpractice Standard: When Former Client Fails to Appeal Unfavorable Judgment in the Underlying Action and Sues the Lawyer Instead ,” DRI Riding the E&O Line, December 19, 2014
•Co-Author, “The Presentation of Probability to the Jury,” FDCC Quarterly, Winter 2011
•Co-Author, “Municipal Strip Search Policy and the Law,” For the Defense, Defense Research Institute, June 2007

Presentations

•Presenter, “Recent Developments in Consumer Class Actions,” MCCA Conference, Chicago, March 2012
•Presenter, “Building Defense Themes During Trial - Opening Statements,” Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC) Annual Conference, July 28, 2011
•Presenter, “The Law Firm as the Employer,” The Federation of Corporate Counsel Annual Meeting, Banff, Canada, Summer 2008
•Presenter, “Recent Trends in Discrimination and Retaliation - Expanding Workplace Protections,” The Federation of Corporate Counsel Winter Meeting, Grand Bahamas, February 2008
•Presenter, “Strip Search Exposure for the Public Entity,” The Federation of Corporate Counsel Annual Meeting, 2007

Recent Insights

Super Lawyers Honors Nearly Two-Thirds of Goldberg Segalla’s Upstate New York Attorneys

August 13, 2019

Sixty-One Goldberg Segalla Attorneys Featured in 2018 Upstate New York Super Lawyers

August 13, 2018

Legal Malpractice Standard: When Former Client Fails to Appeal Unfavorable Judgment in the Underlying Action and Sues the Lawyer Instead, DRI Riding the E&O Line

December 19, 2014

Super Lawyers Names Nearly Three Quarters of Goldberg Segalla’s Upstate New York Attorneys

August 19, 2013

Professional Liability Matters

January 10, 2013

The Presentation of Probability to the Jury, FDCC Quarterly

Winter 2011