 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Kalaba v. Gray2/7/2002
et seq., 8:982 et seq.) Expert designations are demanded and exchanged after non-expert discovery has been completed, so that the parties may conclude their final preparations for trial. (ยง 2034, subd. (c) [unless ordered otherwise, the specified date of exchange shall be 50 days before the initial trial date, or 20 days after service of the demand, whichever is closer to the trial date]; Weil & Brown, Cal. Practice Guide: Civil Procedure Before Trial, supra, 8:1624, 8:1627 ["Without some procedure to discover the identities and opinions of experts hired shortly before trial, there would be flurries of last-minute discovery attempts and motions for continuance of the trial"].)
Further complications arise in the medical malpractice context, where there may be no reason for a defendant to depose every treating physician, notwithstanding the need to depose all experts. Although the Supreme Court has suggested that " n opposing party would . . . be prudent to ask a treating physician at his deposition whether he holds any opinions on [the matters about which expert testimony will be required at trial], and if so, in what manner he obtained the factual underpinning of those opinions" (Schreiber v. Estate of Kiser, supra, 22 Cal.4th at p. 39), the Supreme Court has not suggested that, to be prudent, defense counsel ought to depose every treating physician without regard to whether the treating physician has been designated as an expert. Whatever merit there may be to the suggestion that, in an automobile accident case such as Schreiber, "defendants have a strong incentive to depose treating physicians well prior to the exchange of expert information" (Schreiber v. Estate of Kiser, supra, 22 Cal.4th at p. 38), there are many medical malpractice cases in which an effort to depose all treating physicians would be both unnecessary and prohibitively expensive. Medical malpractice cases are complex and sufficiently expensive to prosecute and defend as it is, and there is nothing in Schreiber to suggest an intent by the Supreme Court to impose further unnecessary economic burdens on either side. As for us, we see absolutely no reason to encourage more depositions than reasonably necessary in any particular case, and no reason to reward a party whose lawyer has failed to comply with either the letter or the spirit of the Civil Discovery Act.
DISPOSITION
The judgment is affirmed. Dr. Gray is awarded his costs of appeal.
CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION.
We concur:
SPENCER, P.J.
ORTEGA, J.
Page 1 2 3 4 5 California Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|