Several Avenues Available for Settling Lawsuits

A medical malpractice lawsuit can be resolved by 4 different means: alternative dispute resolution, pretrial conciliation conferences, trials, and appeals. Alternative Dispute Resolution: At any point, mediation or arbitration can occur to settle the lawsuit before being decided by a jury trial. During arbitration, the arbitrator or a panel of arbitrators decides the case, and the ruling is mandatory and binding (each side agrees in advance to accept the ruling). Arbitrations are often accompanied with a high-low agreement: if the defendant wins, they agree to pay some amount of money to the patient, but if the patient wins, they agree to cap the award. During mediation, the parties try to arrive at an agreement with the help of a facilitator (the mediator). The mediator does not make any final rulings. Conciliation Conference: At some point, there is a conciliation or pretrial settlement conference, during which all involved parties meet with the judge, who tries to get both parties more...