New York Attorneys Representing Uninsured Physicians
Representing NY Clients Without Insurance Tails
If you are a physician and you did not buy the “tail” of your Claims Made Medical Malpractice Insurance Policy, you may find yourself paying very large sums for legal defense in malpractice litigation and the possibility of losing the case and being liable for a huge amount of damages. A doctor never wants to be named as a defendant in a medical malpractice lawsuit. While most physicians simply send the papers to the malpractice insurance company who then assign legal defense and pays the legal bills, sometimes the physician is found to be without insurance. This happens most often when the doctor, who has a “claims made” type of insurance policy, retires and decides not to buy the “tail” of the insurance coverage. This “tail” is the coverage that will be provided to the doctor for all litigation brought after the doctor retires. In some cases, the doctor feels that his/her workload was truly minimal for the last two or three years of practice and that there were really no situations that could possibly lead to a malpractice suit. Unfortunately, what often occurs is that shortly after making the decision to not purchase the “tail,” the process server appears at the door with the lawsuit.
Most retired doctors have no idea how to proceed when this happens. The first thing to do is to send the papers to your former insurance carrier because the carrier might have to provide defense even if you did not purchase the tail. The insurance company may even settle the case on your behalf. However, you might be legally liable to repay the insurance company. In that situation, you will require experienced legal advice to navigate those waters.
In other situations, the insurance company will not have to defend the claim. Unfortunately, if that is the case, you will be on your own. In those instances, you must contact an experienced medical malpractice defense attorney to defend you. You will have to pay for this defense, which is preferable to disregarding the issue that ends up with a default judgment entered against you, greatly increase the legal cost to resolve the matter.
You need an experienced attorney in medical malpractice defense. Medical malpractice defense is a complicated matter and your interests will be best served by retaining someone who does this type of work on a daily basis. Your attorney may inform you that the plaintiff’s lawyer’s interest in the case against you will drastically decrease when he learns that there is no insurance. If there are other viable defendants, the plaintiff’s lawyer will look to them for a settlement. Also, if you have to contribute to a settlement, your lawyer should be able to make the amount as painless as possible.
Contact Walker Medical Law
Walker Medical Law has been defending physicians in malpractice cases for over 40 years. We have the experience required in this type of litigation. We are able to provide quality and effective legal services when you need them most. Contact us for a consultation.