I asked what this meant and he told me that there would be no jury involved. An arbitrator would decide the case. Furthermore, he informed me that there were set limits determining the size of the award in these type of injury suits. They were typically a lot less than those awarded by a jury in other states, but in California this was the law. When I asked about factoring in lost wages for Colin, or emotional stress caused to the parents, he said it was too difficult to prove.
Lost wages are difficult to prove unless someone is actually working.
I thought this unfair. It seemed as if they were penalizing Colin because he was a baby and because he happened to be born in California. My lawyer also told me the whole arbitration process was kind of rigged in the HMO's favor. The arbitrators were typically retired judges seeking means to supplement their income, and many relied on my HMO for a steady stream of cases. Given this fact, it made it difficult for an arbitrator not to favor the HMO, since the HMO would cut them off if there were too many adverse decisions.