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Litigation
and Trial of a Medical Malpractice Case
Nationwide
only about 30% of all medical malpractice cases that go to trial
each year are won by the patient. That means that the health
care provider prevails 70% of the time. Much speculation can
be offered as to why so many patients lose their medical malpractice
cases. Part of the reason relates to the natural tendency of
a jury to give the physician the benefit of the doubt in a close
call.
Another reason relates to the complexity of
the medicine involved and the difficulty and expense associated
with properly trying the case. Given these statistics, it
is not surprising that there are not that many experienced,
qualified lawyers who regularly handle medical malpractice
cases. Medical malpractice cases take longer to get to trial
than most cases.
The testifying and treating
physicians in the case are busy full
time practitioners. Coordinating their
schedules and the schedules of multiple
lawyers is challenging to perform
expeditiously. Once the case is ready
for trial, the court may continue
the case to a new date if another
case proceeds to trial. Since the
court's docket must move efficiently,
the court sets numerous cases for
trial at the same time, knowing in
advance, that most will settle or
be dismissed. If two come up at the
same time, one must be continued.
When the litigants and
the court are finally ready to proceed
with the trial, the presentation of
evidence can begin. Presenting evidence
in a medical malpractice case usually
involves the testimony of competing
expert medical witnesses. Experienced
medical malpractice attorneys also
use visual aids and computerized equipment
to show the medical chart and medical
illustrations to the jury.
It is important for
the victim's medical expert witness
to be at trial to personally explain
why the standard of care was breached
by the defendant. Showing a previously
taken video taped deposition of your
expert is no substitute for his live
appearance. He must be "live"
so he can illustrate difficult concepts
with drawings and explanations.
A medical malpractice case in Texas also presents
a challenge in instructing the jury on the applicable law.
At the close of the case, the litigants meet with the court
to argue about which instructions the jury should be given
regarding the current state of the medical malpractice law.
Following this conference, the court reads pages of instructions
to the jury giving them the guidelines for deciding the case.
These instructions last at least an hour.
Following the jury instructions, the jury retires
to the deliberation room where they will first elect a foreperson
of the jury and then begin their deliberations. Once a verdict
is rendered, the litigants are called back to the court room
where the verdict is read aloud in open court.
The Cochran Firm - Dallas, L.L.P.
Turtle Creek Centre, Suite 1400
3811 Turtle Creek Boulevard
Dallas, Texas
75219
phone:
214.651.4260
| fax: 214.651.4261
Edward H. Moore is Board Certified, Personal Injury Trial Law. Unless otherwise noted, not certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
The statements and information provided on this web site are for the information of the recipient only. This site is not intended to provide legal advice and no attorney-client relationship should be deemed to arise from the receipt this page and its associated pages. |
Copyright © 2003 The Cochran Firm - Dallas, L.L.P.,
All Rights Reserved.
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