Page 41 - Anatomy of a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

SVMIC Anatomy of a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

these answers and responses for cross-examination during the

deposition.

The physician should not perform any additional or
independent research in preparation for the deposition unless

the defense attorney specifically requests it to be done. This
includes reviewing the records of any subsequent treaters.

Your defense attorney will instruct you regarding reviewing

materials outside of your record. Ideally, the physician’s base of
knowledge should be ‘frozen in time’ as of the time care was

rendered to the plaintiff. The reasoning for that thinking is that

the physician could be asked during the deposition (and at
trial) if he or she has performed any research or reviewed any

records other than their own since the time the lawsuit was
filed, and if so, what was the result of that research or review?

If the results do not support the physician’s care, he or she
could be providing the plaintiff’s attorney with source material

that is detrimental to the defense of the case.

The main preparation for the deposition will be conducted in
conjunction with the defense attorney. Physicians in

malpractice actions can expect to meet with their defense

attorneys on multiple occasions to prepare for the deposition.
It is imperative that the physician block off sufficient time on

his or her calendar for these preparation sessions.

Most defense attorneys conduct mock depositions to help
prepare their physicians for the real deposition. The mock

depositions are sometimes videotaped with a member of the

defense attorney’s firm playing the role of the plaintiff’s
attorney. This type of preparation can prove to be invaluable

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