How Settlement Negotiations Work in a Medical Malpractice Case
Legally Reviewed and Edited by: Terry Cochran
One in three healthcare professionals in the United States faces at least one lawsuit in their careers. In 2019, the total amount for medical malpractice lawsuits across various specialties reached over $4.03 billion.
Learning how settlement negotiations work in a medical malpractice case can help you get the financial compensation you deserve. Work with a medical malpractice attorney from Cochran, Kroll, & Associates, P.C. to prove your damages were caused by your medical provider and seek a settlement to help you pay for emotional and physical damages.
How Do Settlement Negotiations Work in a Medical Malpractice Claim?
When you suffer damages due to medical negligence, you have the right to seek financial compensation from the hospital, nurse, doctor, or other healthcare staff who provided insufficient care. Knowing how settlement negotiations work in a medical malpractice case means understanding the overall claims process and what damages you can ask for.
Work with an Attorney to Estimate Your Damages
If you are considering a medical malpractice claim, consult a knowledgeable attorney as soon as possible. Medical malpractice cases are complex and require the skill of an experienced attorney like our senior partner, Eileen Kroll.
Eileen is the lead trial lawyer on the Cochran, Kroll & Associates, P.C. medical malpractice team. She specializes in medical malpractice because her unique medical background allows her to provide experienced legal representation for malpractice victims. She has successfully won multiple million-dollar-plus client settlements, including a $9 million settlement for a client who suffered cardiac arrest and brain damage when a hospital failed to recognize internal bleeding and delayed treatment.
Before filing your claim, your lawyer will estimate the damages resulting from your provider’s misconduct. This is essential to settlement negotiations because an accurate settlement should cover your short and long-term expenses. Your attorney can estimate the value of your claim by assessing the cost of all related damages, such as:
- Medical bills, including current and future medical services and medications incurred as a result of medical negligence
- Rehabilitation services such as physical, occupational, and speech therapy to regain lost skills or abilities
- Lost income and the inability to work, including base pay, bonuses, commissions, benefits, and pay raises
- Non-economic damages like pain and suffering and mental anguish due to sustaining an injury from medical malpractice
File Your Claim
After calculating your damages, your attorney will help you file a medical malpractice claim with the provider’s insurance company. This includes a demand letter outlining your damages, submitting evidence supporting your claim, and asking for a specific amount to pay for your injuries.
The negligent provider’s insurance adjuster can accept or deny this initial amount. If they agree, the insurer will pay your settlement, and you’ll receive the funds within about six weeks.
Negotiate with the Provider’s Insurer
Most insurance companies will not agree to an initial demand in a medical malpractice case, so your lawyer will have to negotiate to receive fair compensation for your damages. They may use the following techniques to settle your malpractice claim with the insurer:
- Gather strong evidence: Your lawyer can gather strong evidence to support your claim, such as medical reports, police reports, and witness statements. This demonstrates the extent of your injuries, the severity of the accident, and the other party’s fault.
- Highlight damages: Your lawyer can highlight the damages you have suffered, including medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Adequate proof of these damages can convince the insurer to settle for a fair amount.
- Use comparative analysis: Your lawyer may use comparative analysis to demonstrate the value of your claim. This involves looking at similar cases in your area and comparing the settlements awarded to yours.
- Leverage legal expertise: Your lawyer can use their legal expertise and knowledge of the law to negotiate with the insurer. They may be able to identify legal issues with the insurer’s offer or use legal arguments to support your claim.
- Engage in back-and-forth negotiations: Your lawyer can negotiate with the insurer, using counteroffers and other negotiation techniques to reach a higher settlement amount.
Receive Your Settlement
Your attorney will keep you informed of progress with settlement negotiations for your claim, updating you on any offers the insurer makes. Although your attorney can advise you on whether a settlement offer is fair or average, it is ultimately your decision to accept a settlement.
The timeline for settling a medical malpractice case in Michigan can vary significantly, depending on the case’s complexity and the parties’ willingness to negotiate. Settlement negotiations may take 18 to 24 months but can sometimes settle quickly.
Once you accept the compensation amount, you will sign a settlement agreement stipulating how much you will receive and when. Typically, the insurer will send the money to your attorney, who will pay any outstanding medical liens and take out legal fees. You will receive the remainder of your funds after a few weeks.
What Happens if the Insurance Company Won’t Settle?
If you and your provider’s insurer cannot agree to a settlement in your medical malpractice case, you may work with your attorney to file a lawsuit. You can claim civil action by filing a complaint with the court for medical negligence and seeking maximum damages.
After you file your complaint, the other party has 21 to 28 days to respond, including potential defenses against your claim. You will receive advice from your medical malpractice lawyer during the discovery phase of your case, including preparing witness testimony and reviewing all evidence. If your case goes to trial, a judge or jury will decide your damage award.
How Will Your Lawyer Prove Medical Negligence?
To prove medical negligence, your attorney must show several elements. These factors include demonstrating a breach of duty of care, causation, and the amount of damages to prove your compensation claim.
Prove Medical Negligence and Causation
Before negotiating a settlement, your medical malpractice claim must meet these four elements:
1. Duty of Care
Duty of care is the legal obligation to secure and promote another person’s health. Your lawyer must prove that the medical professional had a duty of care towards you. Paying your doctor’s invoices and keeping medical records from your appointments can show you had a doctor-patient relationship.
2. Breach of the Duty of Care
In a medical malpractice case, establishing that a defendant had a duty of care is crucial to proving liability. A duty of care is the legal obligation of a medical professional to provide a certain level of care to their patients.
To prove that a defendant had a duty of care, your attorney must show that the defendant had a professional relationship with you and had a legal duty to provide care that met certain standards.
Your attorney can do this through medical records, expert testimony, or healthcare contracts demonstrating the defendant’s professional obligations and responsibilities.
3. Causation
Your legal team must establish a causal link between the medical professional’s actions and the harm done. To do so, expert testimony from medical professionals may be necessary to prove the standard of care and how the defendant’s actions deviated from it.
For example, if you suffered reproductive damage during delivery, your attorney can consult with an expert in obstetrics to describe the standard of care that was violated.
They can use medical records, expert opinions, and eyewitness accounts to demonstrate the chain of events that led to your injury or illness. Your lawyer may also establish a causal relationship with scientific studies or statistical analyzes.
4. Damages
You must show that you suffered actual damages to win a medical malpractice claim. The damages include medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other tangible losses suffered by you.
Evidence such as medical documentation, rehabilitation records, and therapy schedules can prove your need for rehabilitation and physical therapy. Your legal team can also show your lost earnings by using pay stubs, tax returns, and employer statements.
How Long Do You Have to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?
The statute of limitations is the time frame that governs how long you have to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Generally, you have two years from the date of the alleged malpractice, or six months from the date you discovered the malpractice or should have discovered the malpractice, whichever is later, within which to file your claim.
These legal limits are critical. Failure to file within these time frames may result in your potential claim being forever barred no matter what the situation may then be.
Does Michigan Cap Medical Malpractice Damages?
Michigan doesn’t have any caps for economic damages. However, the state has a law on non-economic damages, which can limit the average medical malpractice settlement.
As of 2023, the State of Michigan Department of Treasury has limited non-economic damages in medical malpractice claims to $280,000. However, if your injury falls into one of the following categories, you can receive up to $500,000 in non-economic damages:
- You suffered permanent injuries, becoming hemiplegic, paraplegic, or quadriplegic with total functional loss of one or more limbs caused by brain or spinal cord injury
- Permanent cognitive impairment, preventing you from making independent, sensible life decisions or carrying out normal daily activities
- Your personal injury to a reproductive organ resulted in your inability to conceive.
Speak With a Medical Malpractice Attorney Today
A medical malpractice attorney from Cochran, Kroll, & Associates, P.C. can negotiate with the provider’s insurance adjuster on your behalf. They can assess all your damages to advocate for a settlement to cover all your expenses. They can represent you in court if neither party agrees to a settlement. Your attorney can help you learn how settlement negotiations work in a medical practice case.
Our contingency fee basis means we only get paid if we win your case, so there is no financial risk to you to get started. Call our law firm today at 1-866-MICH-LAW and schedule your no-obligation, free case evaluation.
Disclaimer : The information provided is general and not for legal advice. The blogs are not intended to provide legal counsel and no attorney-client relationship is created nor intended.
