0r a jury trial?
I have to sue my HMO, and my contract calls for binding arbitration. However, my understanding is this is limited to med-mal. I am thinking that my Doctor isn't liable for med-mal per se because I have no physical injuries as a result of her incompetence.
What I do have is being screwed out of about $4400.00 worth of disability benefits because of her stupidity and recalcitrance. So I'm thinking that perhaps I can bypass arbitration and take her to either small claims or even superior(there is no more muni in California)court.
or.
Do I want Arbitration?
Ladies and Gentlemen, your thoughts please.
When you ask what is more lucrative for an attorney are you really asking which has the greatest likelihood for success for you? $4400 is not a lot of money in the HMO/law firm defense dynamic. Keep in mind that the going rate for attorneys runs between $250 and $500 per hour. If you are paying by the hour it won't take long to eat up your $4400 completely. It is possible that you may not be able to recoup your attorney's fees in addition to your $4400, this depends on state law and your contract. If you get a lawyer to take the case on a contingency
(usually one third) his/her total take may only cover four or five hours of his time at the most....
I would suggest you pay $350 to find out from a reputable law firm what your case is really worth. It may not be the open and shut case you think it is and it may not be cost effective to
go through what a major defense firm can put you through if you file suit. IMHO. Keep in mind that any litigation will result in you being deposed (verbally examined under oath) and you may not want to have to answer some of their questions....
I have a valid established diability claim. I appreciate your concern about my being deposed, but I 've been in the deponents chair before and it doesn't bother me.
While I appreciate you taking the time to respond. I disagree with your valuation of my case. I am not an attorney (not yet anyway)but $4400.00, no matter how you look at it is a significant amount of money. The issue I am really presenting is since my damages are resulting not as a result of improper treatment per se, but rather from stupidity. Thus, I am asking, based on these facts and the facts presented in my previous posts how can I properly bypass the mandatory arbitration provision in my contract with my HMO?.
I want to know if I can take this to small claims(statutory limit is $5000.00 in California, or at least in Los Angeles County), or should I attempt to take this to Superior?
or as I said before would it in fact be to my benefit to follow through with Arbitration in terms of a faster settlement.
I am persuing this because this is not the first time that this Physician has had a negative impact on my life and this time I intend to do something about it.
Now what are my options? Insurance defense Counsel need not respond.
Neither depositions nor discovery is permitted in a small claims action.
If arbitration is mandated by the contract, a small claims action would be an abuse of process. Check the contract first. The same people who hear small claims actions tend to be the free arbitrators from the courts. (Assume you're in CA)