Page 37 - Anatomy of a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

SVMIC Anatomy of a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

Discovery

The Rules of Civil Procedure allow each party to a lawsuit to

investigate the facts and expert opinions known or held by the
opposing party. This phase of the litigation is known as

discovery. There are three primary methods for accomplishing
this:

 Interrogatories

 Request to produce

 Deposition

The first two are written forms of discovery and the third is oral
testimony. Discovery is the longest phase of the litigation and

can last months, and more likely, years. Each side wants to

obtain as much information as possible about the other side’s
position to avoid surprise at trial. Typically, there are several

rounds of discovery before a medical malpractice case is ready
for trial. Let’s look at each of these discovery methods in

greater detail.

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