Attorney Jeffrey Mitchell Discusses California’s Landmark Medical Malpractice and Liability Laws
Attorney Jeffrey S. Mitchell was recently honored to be a guest on Ringler Radio and given the opportunity to discuss MICRA, California’s landmark Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act.
Following is an excerpt of the discussion:
MICRA is a comprehensive set of statutes mostly enacted in 1975 as a reaction to an perceived insurance crisis that might cause “doctors would leave the state.” The touchstone of MICRA is the $250,000 per plaintiff limit or “cap” on general damages or pain and suffering. The cap is a hard and fast rule concerning the amount of damages one can recover, regardless of the number of defendants or acts of negligence alleged.
California’s MICRA has been mimicked by a number of states across the country.
In addition to the cap provisions, a number of other provisions of MICRA impact the day–to-day litigation of medical malpractice claims more than the cap. One of these is MICRA’s strict limitation on the recovery of attorneys’ fees. California Business & Professions Code Sec. 6146 sets forth a sliding scale for recovery of attorney contingency fees that is substantially lower than recovery in other personal injury actions. It’s an “ascending/descending scale.” As the recovery goes up, the attorneys fee percentage declines. For verdicts and settlements between $100,000-$600,000, attorneys can recover 25%, but for amounts over $600,000 the contingency fee percentage is 15%.
Despite the challenges presented by MICRA and caps, attorneys at medical malpractice firms such as Bostwick, Peterson & Mitchell, LLP are dedicated to advocating on behalf of those injured as the result of medical negligence.
As stated by Attorney Mitchell, “we work smarter and harder as time goes on in an effort to get people what they deserve.”
To hear the entire interview, click here. For more information on MICRA or if you or a loved one has been injured as the result of medical negligence, contact the lawyers at Bostwick, Peterson & Mitchell, LLP to find out how we can help.
