Nevada’s Draconian medical malpractice cap has not prevented all malpractice lawsuits in Nevada. Malpractice cases for rich people are still in good shape. Why? Because they have so much lost wage upside. Here’s an example: the family of a 35-year-old neurosurgeon who tragically died of sepsis is bringing a wrongful death malpractice lawsuit against emergency room doctors and nurses claiming $60 million in future lost wages. The young neurosurgeon was about to join a practice where doctors earn an average of $2 million a year. Plaintiffs’ lawyers have a Harvard doc on board to testify that the breach of care caused the doctor’s death. The irony is rich doctors can still bring malpractice cases against other doctors because they make so much money.
Law firms are demoting a lot of equity partners to non-equity status. Big law firms are harsh. “Sarah, you are welcome to stay, I guess. But you are not an owner anymore.” I don’t think this is the worst development in human history. Shouldn’t becoming a partner be merit based and shouldn’t you have to continue your work (or bringing in work) to maintain your place.
Judges think sitting through Daubert hearing designed for “educating the judge” is a bad idea. Really?
Barney Frank tries in vain to reach out to people who will still hate him (from Overlawyered). Frank also claims that the government is pushing dying people to receive treatment to prolong their lives. I think even Frank’s strongest allies admit he is prone to becoming unhinged. He’s Charles Barkley if he were in Congress. You can’t even get mad at him.
A common swap in many loser-pays jurisdictions: no appeal and each party bears its costs.
Every medical malpractice lawyer should keep doing what they are doing but remember there can be real human suffering on both sides of the v. It is easy to forget this fact in the partisan trenches. We all could do a better job of remembering the humanity in our adversaries.
Another new social media opinion in a civil litigation case, this one in Maryland.