Vimala B. Ruszkowski has spent her entire career representing both individual and institutional healthcare providers in medical malpractice defense and general liability claims. Clients include physicians in private practice, nurses, hospitals and skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities. She also practices in the area of premises liability defense. Attorney Ruszkowski is adept at case preparation and proceedings through settlement or trial. Her strong work ethic, diligence and dedication to her clients are evident as she skillfully navigates the details and procedures of each matter.
Practice Areas
- General Litigation
- Healthcare Law and Litigation
- Professional Malpractice
- Medical Malpractice Litigation
Bar Admissions
- Connecticut, 2005
- New York, 2006
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of N.Y, 2008
- U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, 2010
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 2014
Education
- Sacred Heart University, B.S. 2001, Biology and Chemistry
- Cum Laude
- The University of Connecticut, School of Law, 2005, with Honors
- CALI Award for Excellence Trial Practice
- CALI Award for Excellence Globalization and the Environment
- Volunteer Tax Preparer for Individuals living in the Greater Hartford Area
Memberships
- Connecticut Bar Association
- DRI
Honors & Accolades
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America 2024 for work in Litigation – Healthcare and Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants
- Named “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers for Litigation – Health Care, Stamford (2023)
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America 2022 and 2023 for work in Litigation – Health Care and Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants
- Superlawyers, Rising Stars, 2012, 2014-2019, Personal Injury-Medical Malpractice: Defense
Speaking Engagements
- Current Trends Impacting Professional Liability Claims – Covid 19. Webinar for Allied World, May 20, 2021.
- Multiple presentations on medical malpractice and risk management topics for various hospitals, insurance companies, and risk management companies.
Representative Experience
- In December of 2023, Attorney Ruszkowski, successfully argued a Special Motion to Dismiss under General Statutes § 52-196a, Connecticut’s anti-SLAPP law. The claims were based in breach of confidentiality and false imprisonment related to the hospital’s social worker’s petition of the DCF, related to the health and safety of a newborn child where there were concerns for maternal alcohol use during pregnancy.
- In June of 2023, Attorney Ruszkowski secured an outright withdrawal against a Connecticut Hospital in a premises liability action that had been vigorously defended for over a year.
- In December of 2022, Attorney Ruszkowski, successfully obtained dismissal of a DPH action against a primary care physician.
- In February of 2021, Attorney Ruszkowski successfully obtained dismissal of claims against unnamed and unidentified providers of a Connecticut Hospital. She later obtained an outright withdrawal for the remaining claims against the Hospital based in agency for the acts and/or omissions of the co-defendant surgeons.
- In May of 2019, Attorney Ruszkowski successfully defended against an appeal of a collections action that she successfully tried to an attorney trial referee in the Connecticut Superior Court. Attorney Ruszkowski represented the plaintiff, a Connecticut Hospital, in the underlying action seeking to collect a debt for medical services that it had rendered to a minor child. The defendants, the parents of the child, each filed an amended answer denying the material allegations of the plaintiff’s complaint, including parentage of the child, and pleaded fourteen special defenses, including accord and satisfaction. After Attorney Ruszkowski won at the trial court level, she filed motions for a special finding of bad faith and for attorney’s fees, which were granted and attorney’s fees awarded. The defendant appealed and the underlying decision was upheld.
- In March of 2019, Attorney Ruszkowski participated in a jury trial involving the claim that a patient’s vocal cords were paralyzed after a total thyroidectomy. After two weeks of evidence, the jury returned a defense verdict in 15 minutes.
- In July 2018, Attorney Ruszkowski participated in the trial of a wrongful death action against a Connecticut Hospital, wherein plaintiffs alleged that the Hospital improperly cared for and treated their decedent, who had been admitted to the Hospital’s Emergency Department for opioid intoxication. Plaintiffs asked the jury for in excess of 22 Million dollars for the death of the 28-year-old patient. Attorney Ruszkowski and Attorney O’Connor obtained a defense verdict for the Hospital.
- In 2017, Attorney Ruszkowski won a motion for summary judgment on behalf of a Connecticut Hospital in a federal court case alleging wrongful death and a failure to diagnose stroke. Prior to ultimate disposition of that case on summary judgment, Attorney Ruszkowski also was successful in protecting the Hospital’s peer review documents from disclosure in federal court, where the protections of peer review are not as robust as state court.
- Over the years Attorney Ruszkowski has won numerous dispositive motions for defendants and positioned well numerous others for pre-trial resolutions.
Community Involvement
- Attorney Ruszkowski is an avid supporter of pediatric cancer awareness, and her family actively supports Dana Farber Cancer Institute’s annual Pan Mass Challenge.
- Attorney Ruszkowski serves as Adjunct Faculty at UConn Law School teaching Connecticut Civil Procedure.
Personal
- Vim lives in Trumbull with her husband and two kids. She enjoys cooking, baking, traveling, and fair weather running.