Expediting a medical malpractice lawsuit is beneficial for all involved parties, including the court. Although it may seem counterintuitive for the defending party, they too stand to benefit from fast resolutions, be it inside or outside the court. Next, we will take a quick look at the reasoning behind the facts.
How Does Speed Benefit the Plaintiff?
If it takes a long time to settle any medical malpractice lawsuit, it loses some or most of its importance to the plaintiff. For example, they may not be able to afford the treatment they need, in time to recover from a particular instance of medical negligence. Since it could even take years to settle a medical malpractice lawsuit, it is quite possible that by the time the plaintiff receives their compensations, the money may no longer be sufficient to make up for everything that they had to go through in between. Given that medical malpractice attorneys get paid only after their clients receive their due compensations, they too have sufficient reasons to take the initiative and reduce the time it takes to get medical records for validating their client’s claim.
How Does Speed Benefit the Defendant?
Earlier, defendants used to believe that burying the other side in paperwork and delaying a medical negligence lawsuit was their best course of action. However, that strategy has proven to be unhelpful because of the following realities:
- The more they drag their medical malpractice lawsuits, the more their reputation will suffer
- If they lose the lawsuit after a long battle, the compensation is generally a lot higher than it needed to be in the first place
- Given that defendants have to pay their lawyers throughout the lawsuit’s duration, it is often just cheaper for them to settle quickly
How Does Speed Benefit the Court?
The city courts are always behind schedule, as far as settling medical malpractice lawsuits are concerned. Some of them have a backlog so long that it takes more than a year to simply get started on a new proceeding. Therefore, the faster these cases are settled, the better it is for the courts.
In fact, the state of New York is attempting to settle most medical malpractice lawsuits outside the court, with active intervention from the authorities. For those that are not aware, New York has the highest number of unsettled medical malpractice lawsuits in the United States.
It should be noted that the plaintiff could at times be at a disadvantage in such circumstances. Unless they are being advised by medical negligence attorneys who have a reputation to keep, there is a chance that the plaintiff will end up settling for a much smaller compensation than they deserve.
When the court, the defendant and the litigating lawyer himself/herself are all in favor of settling fast, the lawsuit might at times be settled far too quickly. Quick settlements cost less but provide medical malpractice victims faster access to the funds they need. Despite that seeming like the ideal scenario, the harmed party should never settle for an insufficient compensation amount, just for the sake of immediate resolution.
