District of Columbia Medical Malpractice Verdicts 2009

As regular practitioners in the courts of the District of Columbia, Allan and I are aware of recent trends including those in both motor vehicle cases and medical malpractice cases. The court also regularly compiles verdict information and the latest such information does not bode well for victims of medical negligence in the District.

In the first half of 2009 six medical malpractice cases were tried to verdict in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia and only three resulted in verdicts for the plaintiff. The largest such plaintiff's verdict was slightly less than $132,000.00 and that verdict was vanquished by the judge.

The malpractice verdict trends are consistent with trends in auto accident cases in Superior Court and should be a cautionary tale for litigants who refuse to accept offers that their attorneys and the trial judges evaluate as fair.