Legal Question in Personal Injury in California
mediation and neutral doctor
The defense attorney has scheduled the only mediation on the day prior to a court mandated cutoff. Now I have been told that the defense wants me to have an IME 4 days after the mediation. I am willing to see any doctor they want me to, as I have been willing to do for the past many months while this case has idled. They have had months to hold mediation and have me undergo IME. They choose to have mediation the day before its deadline and now they want to have an IME after the mediation. What�s going on here? It seems to me that the defense is not really interested in mediation and possible settlement if they schedule an IME after the fact. If they were serious about mediation and settling the case would it not have been better to have had the IME prior to mediation? I realize that I am a complete novice to the inner workings of the legal system but I can�t help feel like this is a ploy by the defense and ultimately the insurance company to hold the pending IME over my head at the mediation so they can lowball any offer they might give. I feel like they are not really interested in settling the case at mediation so in turn I feel like the mediation will be a waste of my time. Is there any advice someone might have for me?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: mediation and neutral doctor
I am assuming you have an attorney. Why not go to your lawyer with this, instead of "Law Guru"?
You are correct, in that the defendant insurance companies did not become rich and powerful by throwing money around.
However, you cannot miss mediation.
Bring this to your attorney's attention. If he/she is not representing you in a manner you think is proper, you can always hire and fire attorneys.
Re: mediation and neutral doctor
This question is a duplicate and I have answered it already. Hopefully you got the answer.
Re: mediation and neutral doctor
I suspect that they don't want to incur the doctor's costs if the mediation is successful and the case is settled. By the way, lawyers for the injured parties should properly call them "defense medical exams" rather than "independent medical exams," since the doctors are paid by the defense.
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