(Knowledge of that fact would probably lead to rejection of the case because of statute-of-limitations problems.) Be prepared to understand what the plaintiff understood the cause of the problems to be, what he was told to reassure him and lead him to believe that there was no malpractice or not suspect malpractice, and what was the triggering event to cause the suspicion or belief that there may be malpractice, occurring within one year of the date of filing of the complaint. The small business lawyers are those who specialize in to solve the business law matters.

Preparing for a government-claim defense

An added complexity to medical malpractice statute of limitations is the requirement to file a government claim when one of the defendants is a public entity. Typically, you will see this in cases where the hospital is a county facility (Ventura County Medical Center, Harbor UCLA Medical Center, LAC/USC Medical Center) or a state district hospital (Kaweah Delta, Hemet Valley, Antelope Valley, Sierra View Medical Center). Public entities require a claim to be filed within six months of the date of accrual of the claim.

The date of accrual is generally the same as the date of discovery. Accordingly a government claim must be filed within six months of the date the plaintiff knew or reasonably should have known that he might have a claim. This information would be known to you at the outset of vour representation since claim-requirement compliance has to be pleaded in the complaint. Even though you may have successfully weathered a demurrer on this issue, if the claim was filed more than 6 months from the date of the event, the statute of limitations remains an issue through trial. Therefore, expect questioning of the plaintiffs on factual circumstances of the delayed discovery and make sure the clients are prepared to give a rational explanation of why they decided to seek an attorney.

Preparing for binding arbitration defense

In addition, another issue frequently appearing in medical-malpractice cases is binding arbitration. The plaintiff needs to be fully prepared to answer questions at the deposition on binding arbitration. One common problem for the defense is when the arbitration agreement is signed in English but the plaintiff is a primary Spanish speaker. Then there may be a factual argument about what the plaintiff wras told in translation or whether the document was translated at all.

Evidence of the plaintiff's education in the United States, his work experience in which he may have been trained in English or required to speak English at work, or his ability to read English will be covered at the deposition and if relying on this defense to the arbitration agreement, a full and comprehensive examination of these issues in deposition preparation must be undertaken.

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