Opinion ID: 895008
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Statutory Filing Period

Text: The version of section 74.351(a) applicable to the Brandals' claim provides: (a) In a health care liability claim, a claimant shall, not later than the 120th day after the date the claim was filed, serve on each party or the party's attorney one or more expert reports, with a curriculum vitae of each expert listed in the report for each physician or health care provider against whom a liability claim is asserted. Act of June 2, 2003, 78th Leg., R.S., ch. 204, § 10.01, 2003 Tex. Gen. Laws 847, 875 (amended 2005) (current version at TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM.CODE § 74.351(a)). [2] According to Leland, the 120-day deadline to file expert reports is triggered when the plaintiff files notice of a claim under section 74.051, which requires a health care liability plaintiff to give each provider against whom a claim will be made at least sixty days written notice before filing suit. TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM.CODE § 74.051(a). Calculating from the date he initially received notice of the Brandals' claim, Leland contends the Brandals' supplemented reports were not served within the 120-day period and the trial court erred in considering them. In construing a statute, our objective is to determine and give effect to the Legislature's intent. Nat'l Liab. & Fire Ins. Co. v. Allen, 15 S.W.3d 525, 527 (Tex.2000). We look first to the statute's language to determine that intent, as we consider it a fair assumption that the Legislature tries to say what it means, and therefore the words it chooses should be the surest guide to legislative intent. Fitzgerald v. Advanced Spine Fixation Sys., Inc., 996 S.W.2d 864, 866 (Tex.1999). If the statute's language is unambiguous, its plain meaning will prevail. McIntyre v. Ramirez, 109 S.W.3d 741, 745 (Tex.2003). We believe the unambiguous plain meaning of the date the claim was filed is the date the plaintiff filed his health care liability claim in court and not, as Leland contends, the date the provider received notice that a claim would be filed. Leland argues that his interpretation is supported by a later amendment to the statute. In 2005, the Legislature changed the phrase the date the claim was filed to the date the original petition was filed. Act of May 18, 2005, 79th Leg., R. S., ch. 635, § 1, 2005 Tex. Gen. Laws 1590. Because the amended version refers to the original petition, which clearly pinpoints the date the suit was filed in court, Leland reasons the earlier language must mean something different. However, we see nothing in the slight change in the statute's language to indicate that a different meaning was intended. See Dick v. Kazen, 156 Tex. 122, 292 S.W.2d 913, 915-16 (1956) (determining that the Legislature did not intend to alter a statute's meaning when it replaced all candidates for each nomination with all candidates for all offices). There is nothing in the text of the statute to indicate that the date the claim was filed means the date the provider received notice of the claim. Because the Brandals served their supplemented expert reports within 120 days of filing suit, we conclude they were timely under the statute.