When a medical error, a crash, or a dangerous product changes your family’s life, the lawyer you choose is the most important decision you will make about what comes next. Mahoney Law, PLLC is a family-run Boise firm that concentrates on the most demanding injury cases in Idaho: medical malpractice, birth injuries, wrongful death, and catastrophic injuries. Patrick E. Mahoney and Jennifer Reid Mahoney have each practiced law in Idaho for roughly three decades, and the firm has recovered more than $40 million for Idaho families. Here is what to know about these cases, and about us, before choosing a lawyer.
What makes Mahoney Law different
Mahoney Law is deliberately small: a family-run firm, Patrick and Jennifer Mahoney, built around one purpose, holding accountable those who injure or kill the people we love.
Patrick E. Mahoney has practiced in Idaho for close to three decades. An editor of the Idaho Law Review at the University of Idaho College of Law, he clerked for two Fourth Judicial District trial judges in Boise before entering private practice. He is recognized by Super Lawyers, holds Avvo’s highest Superb rating, and belongs to the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Idaho Trial Lawyers Association.
Jennifer Reid Mahoney is a Boise native, a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Idaho College of Law, and a former Editor-in-Chief of the Idaho Law Review. She clerked for U.S. Magistrate Judge Larry M. Boyle, has practiced in Idaho since 1995, and focuses on medical negligence, birth injury, nursing home, and insurance cases, including malpractice claims against the VA.
What that means for you:
- Two experienced trial lawyers on every case. Few firms of any size can say both of their lawyers edited the Idaho Law Review and clerked for judges. You get both of us, from the first meeting through trial, never a case manager.
- A practice built on the hardest cases. Medical malpractice, birth injury, and hospital death cases demand command of the medicine, Idaho’s prelitigation panel, and the damages cap. That is where we do our best work, and the same discipline carries into every crash, nursing home, and product case.
- Selective by design, with results to show for it. We accept a limited number of new cases each year, and we have recovered more than $40 million for Idaho families, including multiple seven-figure birth injury settlements. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes, but they show what a case is worth when it is prepared for trial.
- The resources to take on hospitals and insurers. We advance the cost of the physicians, economists, and life-care planners serious cases require, and we have taken on Idaho’s largest hospital systems.
- Honest answers. We tell you plainly whether Idaho law supports a claim. When we cannot take a case, we explain why and spell out the deadlines you still face.
What our clients say
Our Google reviews say it better than we can. Parents who lost their son to a medical error described us handling their wrongful death case “with compassion, efficiency and an incredibly amazing work ethic” and keeping them informed at every step. A family whose child was harmed called “virtually every legal team in Idaho” before choosing us, won over by thoughtful intake questions and a prompt call back from a partner. Others praised countless hours spent collecting evidence, a firm “very good at retaining key expert witnesses,” and the feeling that we “truly had our backs” with the insurance company. One client noted that we are selective about the cases we take and called it “a testament to their honesty.” You can read every review, in our clients’ own words, on Google.
The cases we handle
We focus on serious and catastrophic cases, where the stakes justify the work a case deserves.
- Medical malpractice. Surgical errors, missed or delayed diagnoses, medication and anesthesia errors, emergency room mistakes, and hospital infections. Idaho requires a prelitigation screening panel before suit and expert proof against the local standard of care (Idaho Code §§ 6-1001, 6-1012). We know that process, and we have held Idaho’s largest hospital systems accountable. We also handle claims against the Boise VA Medical Center, which follow federal procedures of their own.
- Birth injury and HIE. Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, cerebral palsy, brachial plexus injuries, delayed C-sections, and newborn infections. These cases turn on minute-by-minute delivery records and a lifetime of care costs, and we have secured multiple seven-figure settlements for Idaho children. Idaho limits how long a child’s claim can wait (§ 5-230), so do not assume you have until the child turns 18.
- Wrongful death. Idaho lets a spouse, children, parents, and other heirs recover medical and funeral costs, lost support, and the loss of companionship (§ 5-311). Our companion guide covers who can file, the deadlines, and what compensation includes.
- Car, truck, and motorcycle crashes. Idaho is an at-fault state, but drivers need carry only $25,000 per person in liability coverage, so finding every policy, including your own underinsured-motorist coverage, is often what makes a family whole. In truck crashes, driver logs and electronic data disappear fast unless a preservation demand goes out immediately.
- Nursing home neglect. Falls, pressure injuries, dehydration, medication errors, and wandering are almost always symptoms of understaffing. We obtain inspection reports, staffing records, and care plans, and we hold the corporate chain accountable along with the facility.
- Defective products and catastrophic injuries. Manufacturers and sellers answer for products that injure people, and brain, spinal cord, burn, and amputation injuries require a case built around decades of future care and lost earning capacity. We build both with engineers, physicians, life-care planners, and economists.
- Insurance bad faith. When your own insurer unreasonably denies, delays, or underpays a valid claim, Idaho law allows damages beyond the policy limits.
Idaho rules that shape every case
Idaho sets deadlines and limits that decide cases before they are filed.
| Rule | What it means for you | Idaho Code |
| Two-year filing deadline | Injury and wrongful death claims generally must be filed within two years, and medical cases count from the error, not its discovery. | § 5-219(4) |
| 180-day government notice | Claims against a city, county, highway district, school district, or public hospital require written notice within 180 days, or they are lost. | §§ 6-905, 6-906 |
| Medical malpractice panel | Every malpractice claim goes through the Idaho State Board of Medicine’s prelitigation panel before suit. | § 6-1001 |
| Comparative negligence | You can recover if your share of fault is less than the defendant’s, reduced by your percentage. | § 6-801 |
| Noneconomic damages cap | Pain and suffering are capped at an amount adjusted yearly; economic losses are not, and the cap does not apply to reckless conduct. | § 6-1603 |
Several of these are shorter than they look. Have a lawyer calendar your deadlines within days of the injury.
What happens when you contact Mahoney Law
Reaching out is free, confidential, and pressure-free. Call (208) 345-6364 or send a message through patrickmahoneylaw.com, and one of us, not an intake screener, will call you back promptly. We review what happened and the records you have, gather the rest ourselves at no cost, and give you a straight answer: whether Idaho law supports a claim, which deadlines apply, what the case may be worth, and what we recommend.
Bring whatever you have: medical records, photographs, a police or incident report, insurance letters, and a timeline in your own words. One thing not to do: give a recorded statement to the other side’s insurer before talking to a lawyer. You are not required to, and adjusters use those statements to shrink claims.
Questions Idaho families ask us
What does it cost? Nothing up front. We work on a contingency fee, advance the case costs, and are paid only from a recovery. No recovery, no attorney fee.
How long will it take? Most cases resolve in one to three years. Medical malpractice and birth injury cases take longer because of the panel process and the expert work involved.
What if I was partly at fault? Idaho’s comparative negligence rule (§ 6-801) still allows recovery if your share of fault is less than the defendant’s, reduced by your percentage. Insurers routinely overstate a victim’s fault, and we push back with the evidence.
Should I take the insurance company’s offer? Not before a lawyer reviews it. Early offers rarely account for future care or lost earning capacity, and a signed release ends the claim for good. Evaluating the offer costs you nothing.
Talk to a Boise personal injury and medical malpractice lawyer today
Two things are true in every serious injury case: the other side is already working, and the deadlines are already running. If you are comparing Boise law firms, ask each one who will handle your case, what their results are, and who pays for the experts, then compare our answers.
Call Mahoney Law at (208) 345-6364 or request a free, confidential case review at patrickmahoneylaw.com. Our office is at 1211 W. Myrtle Street, Suite 350, in downtown Boise, and we represent families across Idaho.