Medical Malpractice Settlement Timeline

Question: How long will my medical malpractice case take to settle?

Answer:

Texas medical malpractice laws are not on your side. They’re on the doctors’ side, the hospitals’ side, and the corporations that run hospitals. One thing people always ask me is about how long their case is going to take. In Texas, if you’ve suffered from medical malpractice, your case is going to take a while.

You need a report written by an expert who can say you have a valid case. Not that you’re going to win, but this is a valid case. You have to file that when you file your lawsuit because you’ve only got 120 days to do that. Then what happens is a judge looks at that report. They read it. They read everything about your case. Then they have to make a determination. Is this meritorious? Does it deserve to go forward?

If that judge says yes, the insurance companies for the doctors appeal that decision. In Texas, it’s one of the very limited exceptions that allows them to appeal and freeze your case before you’ve ever done anything. That appeal’s going to take 18 months to two years.

Why do they do that? Because they want to discourage you. They want you to walk away. They want you to suffer more. You need an experienced medical malpractice lawyer. Someone who not only understands the expert report requirements, and all of the administrative needs of a malpractice case, but someone who’s handled appeals and has fought those battles.

After the appeals are over, and you know you’ve got a meritorious case, the appellate court says yes, that first judge was right. Your appeal is denied. Then you move forward. Then you move forward aggressively and fast with an experienced medical malpractice lawyer.