South Florida Injury Lawyers Blog
One of the most frequently-asked questions of an Orlando medical malpractice lawyer is: How long does a medical negligence claim take? It’s an important one, so we understand why it is raised so often. However, the best answer we can give is: It depends.
Some medical negligence claims can take a few months to resolve. Others can take several years. In cases wherein plaintiff must lobby a state lawmaker to file a legislative claims bill in order to collect on a trial court’s medical malpractice verdict against a public hospital or practitioner, it’s not unheard of for it to take over a decade. The same is true of general negligence claims, but one of the main reasons medical negligence claims can take so much longer is not only are they more complex, plaintiffs must meet the pre-lawsuit screening standards set forth in Chapter 766 of Florida Statutes, which deals with medical malpractice and related matters. These include the requirement to have an expert witness who meets the qualifications as set forth in F.S. 766.102, required notice before filing action, court-ordered arbitration, mandatory mediation and settlement conferences and immunity for a number of entities.
This is why many Orlando medical malpractice lawyers and injury attorneys will try if possible NOT to have the case classified as such. Although some cases can be categorized no other way, not all injuries that occur in a hospital are the result of medical negligence.