How Trial Lawyers Win Jackpot Verdicts in Medical Malpractice CasesBy Lewis L. Laska, J.D., Ph.D. Publisher of Medical Malpractice Verdicts, Settlements & ExpertsThe Nation´s Largest Malpractice Verdict Reporter Why do some lawyers capture million dollar verdicts when most malpractice cases result in defense verdicts? The answer is this: Skilled plaintiffs´ lawyers have changed their tactics since 1995. They did so because they had to —from 1987 through 1994, medical malpractice recoveries actually went down in terms of inflation-adjusted dollars. The medical press rejoiced that the median award in physician malpractice cases had dropped twenty-two percent in one year (1992) and reported gleefully, "Juries today are notably more likely to deliver a verdictmalpractice favoring the defendant than they were just five years ago." The nation´s leading commercial carrier, St. Paul Company, trumpeted its decision to lower rates to anesthesiologists and boasted the average indemnity it paid in 1992 ($119,400) had dropped to $117,500 the next year. For the full article, Download it Now! |