ARTICLES

Trends in medical negligence law and litigation, including economic and social changes that impact the number of claims, changes in public perceptions, expanding concepts of liability, difficulties in determining responsibility for particular care decisions, systems errors, and telemedicine are outlined.

Strict claim-filing requirements must be followed before suing a government entity, including a hospital district. If all of the statutory requirements are not followed, the case may be dismissed. A case is outlined in which it was almost impossible to determine who to serve with a claim and how to do it. As a result of this case and article, the Washington legislature passed a new law requiring all hospital districts to name a registered agent for the purpose of serving claims.

This presentation outlines the court rules, appellate court rulings, and ethical rules that govern responses a plaintiff’s attorney must make to discovery requests, including interrogatories, by another party.

This paper outlines the ethical issues involved in representing multiple parties injured in the same incident or parties that may have a conflict in terms of allocating damages. Examples include representing: 1. the estate’s representative as well as those who would be beneficiaries, 2. both husband and wife when one is injured and the spouse has a separate claim, and 3. parents and children in a claim of injury to the child.