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The Physician's Guide to Medical Malpractice

Becoming involved in a lawsuit can be a significant event for anyone, including a physician. It can require a great deal of the physician's time and effort, can be emotionally draining, and can serve a psychological blow to the physician's professional psyche. 
 
When legal claims arise, physicians must trust their lawyers to address them, just as patients must trust their physicians to treat disease. As with the physician-patient relationship, the effectiveness of the lawyer-client relationship depends on the physician's absolute candidness about the events surrounding the legal claim. These communications between lawyer and client are protected as confidential to encourage this necessary candidness. And, just as patient compliance promotes effective treatment, a physician must heed the lawyer's advice and instructions to ensure an effective defense. 
 
This guide is designed to give physicians a context for understanding the impact of a legal claim so that, if a claim does arise, the physician can react appropriately and know what to expect. It focuses on the 3 phases of a legal claim: the presuit notice period, the life of a lawsuit, and trial. And, because legal claims invoke the issue of insurance, this guide initially attempts to familiarize physicians with the nature of a medical malpractice insurance policy.