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Mr. Smith was a speaker at the annual medical malpractice seminar, “The Maryland Med Mal Case: Learn from the Experts,” presented by the Medical Negligence Section of the Maryland Trial Lawyers’ Association in Baltimore, Maryland. This seminar included presentations on “cutting edge” topics to lawyers who regularly handle medical malpractice or medical negligence cases. Mr. Smith’s topic was “Surviving the Court of Appeals: Certificates of Merit and Reports Post Walzer and Carroll.”
Under Maryland’s medical malpractice law, a legal claim against a healthcare provider, including hospitals, doctors, nurses, and nursing homes, cannot be maintained unless the claimant files a “Certificate of Qualified Expert” and Report from a medical expert. The Certificate and Report must verify that the healthcare provider departed from the applicable standard of care, and that the departure was the cause of an injury or death. Recent rulings by Maryland appeals courts radically changed the custom and practice that had been followed previously in medical malpractice litigation. Mr. Smith reviewed the evolving law and offered practical advice to medical malpractice attorneys on how to comply with current legal requirements.