Why Most Medical Malpractice Victims Never Recover a Dime - Part 16

The Legal Process in Medical Malpractice Cases

In a medical malpractice case, we will almost always file your suit before negotiating so that if negotiations break down, we will already have a trial date in place to head towards.  In an automobile case, our approach depends on our experience of the attitude and previous behaviour of the insurance company.  We apply our long history of negotiating claims to your benefit in every case. 

I believe that it is a dangerous practice to wait until the statute of limitations has almost expired to file suit. I have seen other lawyers do this only to find that the defendant they sued is either not the correct defendant or is now blaming someone else.

While there are legitimate reasons for delaying filing suit, there is no excuse for the practice that I sometimes see whereby some lawyers routinely wait until the last moment to see if the insurance company will settle your case. When the claims do not settle, they often panic to file the case on time.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, a medical malpractice case is begun by filing a lawsuit in the Supreme Court.  Once the lawsuit is filed, both sides engage in the legal process called discovery.  Each party is allowed to investigate what it is the other side is going to say at trial. The defendant will be permitted access to your medical and work history, including your income records. You may have to give oral discovery under oath and you may be required to submit to a medical examination by a physician of the defendant's choosing.  The defendant is also subject to discovery.  He or she will answer written and oral questions about their own background and will have to give sworn testimony about the incident at issue.

In Newfoundland and Labrador you can expect to go to trial about one year after the case is placed on the "trial list".  However, much must be done to be ready for trial and national statistics show an average of five years for a case to resolve, and seven years in a complex case is not unusual.