Next, your attorney will file your lawsuit with the civil court. It could take anywhere between 1.5 years to 3 years for your case to reach trial. Next, your attorney may need to file an Affidavit of Merit or Offer of Proof to prove that your case could be a legitimate medical malpractice case.
Feb 28, 2022 · However, if a medical malpractice case does not settle and goes to trial, the lawsuit can take up to 4 years. In cases where compensation exceeds $2 million, the timeline is often 5-15 years. No two medical malpractice lawsuits are the same, and many factors combine to determine how long your medical malpractice suit can take.
Under D.C. Code § 12-301, you generally have three years to file a lawsuit against a negligent medical professional. The three-year period usually begins to run on the date when the negligent act or omission occurred, and the injury arose. However, in many medical malpractice cases, the negligence does not occur on a single occasion.
Given the backlog of cases in the US courts in general, it may take six months to a year or more before a medical malpractice claim is settled. Often times, this is too long for families struggling with out of hand bills. Your attorney can give you options to get some money up front, if your case stands a good chance at success.
The filing of the lawsuit starts the clock running on when the case might get to trial. Every state's pre-trial procedures are different, but generally it will take between a year and a half and three years after the lawsuit is filed for a medical malpractice case to get to trial. The Offer of Proof/Certificate of Merit is Filed
If your physician deliberately hid or concealed evidence of malpractice, a court may excuse a late filing of a lawsuit. Given that most evidence of malpractice can be identified in medical records, it can be difficult to establish intentional concealment. However, it may be possible where a doctor or hospital has: 1 Falsified medical records 2 Hid or destroyed evidence 3 Lied about a patient’s medical condition 4 Coerced employees to lie to the patient about a medical condition.
Under D.C. Code § 16-2802, you must give reasonable notice to the defendant of your intent to file a lawsuit no less than 90 days prior to filing suit.
Gathering all relevant treatment records from medical providers. This process can take several weeks or months to complete. This is because many hospitals now use outsourced medical records companies who may be slow to respond to records requests. Carefully reviewing the medical records.
In most cases, the three-year statute of limitations will not expire until the person reaches his or her 21st birthday. If you are a parent of a child who suffered injuries due to medical malpractice, you may be eligible to bring your own claim.
Given the backlog of cases in the US courts in general, it may take six months to a year or more before a medical malpractice claim is settled. Often times, this is too long for families struggling with out of hand bills.
Neither side wants to go to court, because it is expensive and time-consuming. Generally, only those cases where neither side can agree on a settlement amount will go to trial, and even then it is usually a last option.
The reason the courts often set up these types of funds is to ensure the child has money to cover long-term or permanent medical care.
Once the complaint has been filed and all involved parties notified of the lawsuit, both sides will begin the process of discovery. During discovery, both sides will request information, evidence and related documentation from the other in an attempt to gather the facts and build their respective cases.
Depending on the state in which the complaint was filed, the expert medical witness may be either a generalist, or a specialist in the field of medicine involved in the lawsuit. Each state has laws governing the extent of specialty required by an expert witness in a medical malpractice case.
Once a settlement or successful jury verdict has been reached, the case is completed and the plaintiff is paid for all their damages. At this point, there are two common options for the injured patient and/or their family members to collect the money; Lump-sum payment or structured payments.
Structured Payment. Structured settlements or awards are often the option chosen in cases of birth injury, or malpractice to young children. The reason the courts often set up these types of funds is to ensure the child has money to cover long-term or permanent medical care.
Every state's pre-trial procedures are different, but generally it will take between a year and a half and three years after the lawsuit is filed for a medical malpractice case to get to trial.
Once the pre-lawsuit procedures have been satisifed, litigation begins, and the parties conduct "discovery", a procedure in which each party investigates what the adversary's legal claims and defenses are. They send interrogatories (a fancy word for questions) and document requests to each other, and take depositions of all relevant parties and witnesses in the case, generally beginning with the plaintiff and defendant.
As the discovery period ends, the lawyers will generally start talking about settlement. Sometimes the lawyers can settle a case just by talking amongst themselves, but, in other cases, they will go to mediation, a process in which both clients and both lawyers go in front of a mediator to try to settle the case.
Each medical malpractice case will have a unique timeline and take different lengths of time to reach settlement. The standard timeline of a medical malpractice case involves the following steps:
Usually, the more complex the medical malpractice case is, the longer it will take for you to reach a settlement. However, you should not rush into a settlement agreement without speaking to an attorney – the first offer you receive may not be sufficient to compensate for your injuries.
Very few factors can speed up the medical malpractice timeline. However, hiring a medical malpractice attorney will reduce the amount of time you spend waiting for your settlement.
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Find the statute of limitations for each state, the citation of the governing state statute, and links to each state for more state specific medical malpractice laws.
Before you call a medical malpractice lawyer, it may help to read up on what makes a medical malpractice case, and what you'll need to prove.