Lawmakers in New York made it a priority to cut down on medical malpractice type lawsuits that are filed with little or no merit. They now require the plaintiff’s Hudson Valley wrong-site surgery attorney to file a certificate of merit with their complaint.
As stated in New York Civil Practice & Law Rules § 3012-a, an attorney uses the certificate of merit to prove that there is a valid reason for the claim in the eyes of an expert in the medical field. The certificate of merit must state that one of the following is true: After reviewing the facts of the case, a medical expert in the same field as the defendant agrees that the defendant provided imprudent or negligent medical care that was not in keeping with industry best practices or that the lawyer made three good-faith attempts to meet with different medical experts but was unsuccessful.