Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
How much is a minor/small Medical Malpractice case worth, for settlement purposes? I know Medical Malpractice cases are complex and takes unique qualified lawyers to handle them,,,,,,The case is of Elderly In Pro Per Plaintiff (with no assets/"judgment-proof") to sue a small clinic for Medical Malpractice & Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress, in Superior Court (Unlimited Jurisdiction) because the young clinic staff put a splint (for a hairline fracture/small broken elbow) on Plaintiff's arm too tight that left small bruise in the arm, restricted blood flow and caused discomfort, that Plaintiff had to go to another different ER in a bigger hospital a couple days later, to have another splint put on, which was comfortably done. ,,There are no after effects, just a mental distrust to ever go again to another small clinic,,,,A couple firms rejected to take the case because they said that the damages are minimal and they only do cases with long term damage effects.,,,The clinic's defense counsel also said that Plaintiff's case is weak and that they will offer, at first, $2,000 to settle, then they doubled to $4,000, after they were given information that In Pro Per Plaintiff had litigation experience and has been deposed years ago (because defense counsel was given a copy of Plaintiff's front page of an old deposition w/ Plaintiff's name on it).... Then they said that Plaintiff will have to hire a Medical Expert and that would cost thousands of dollars more, and that from his past experience, doctors/Healthcare professionals have a high rate of defense verdicts...I know small Unlimited Cases cost about $20,000 to get through trial with settlement figures about $10,000-$15,000.
After Summary Judgment & before trial, the settlement standard is $75,000 for an average case, and the more complex cases are in the six figure settlement range.
Is $4,000 to small to settle? for this minor infraction?
Do you think defendant's counsel/Insurance would incur defense costs less than $10,000 after going through pleading stages, discovery, Summary Judgment, all before trial?
1 Answer from Attorneys
You need to sit down with an attorney, but as describe there are very little damages. Mental distrust of a small clinic is really not much of a cause of action. I doubt you would even survive demurrer with that. You are not going to get some massive settlement here in my opinion... The law firms you gave seen are probably right but get some other opinions.
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