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59 Vand. L. Rev. 1085 (2006)
Medical Malpractice Litigation and Tort Reform: It's the Incentives, Stupid

handle is hein.journals/vanlr59 and id is 1101 raw text is: Medical Malpractice Litigation and Tort Reform: It's the Incentives, Stupid David A. Hyman* and Charles Silver I. INTRODU CTION ................................................................... 1086 II. How OFTEN Do PATIENTS SUE? ......................................... 1088 III. Do THE M ERITS M ATTER? ................................................... 1092 IV. How COMMON ARE FRIVOLOUS M ALPRACTICE LAWSUITS? .................................................. 1100 V. Do INJURED PATIENTS GET WHAT THEY DESERVE? ............. 1104 VI. How OFTEN DO PLAINTIFFS WIN AT TRIAL? ....................... 1107 VII. PAYMENT FREQUENCY AND AMOUNT .................................. 1108 VIII. INCENTIVE-BASED EXPLANATIONS FOR THE FINDINGS OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH ................................... 1111 A . Patient B ehavior ..................................................... 1113 1. How Do Patients Learn They May H ave A Claim ? ............................................. 1113 2. Why Don't Most Patients With Claim s Sue? ................................................. 1113 3. Why Do Some Patients With Claims Sue?..1115 B . Lawyer B ehavior ..................................................... 1117 1. Why Do Lawyers Screen Cases? .................. 1117 2. Why do Lawyers Drop Cases After Accepting Them? ................................ 1120 3. Why Do Lawyers Invest in Reputations? .... 1121 C. Provider/Carrier Behavior ..................................... 1122 1. Why Don't Providers Just Pay Up? ............. 1122 D . System Behavior ..................................................... 1124 Professor of Law and Medicine and Galowich-Huizenga Faculty Scholar, University of Illinois. Co-Director, Center on Lawyers, Civil Justice, and the Media, and McDonald Endowed Chair in Civil Procedure, University of Texas School of Law. We received helpful comments when this paper was presented at Vanderbilt University School of Law, and helpful written comments from Bert Kritzer, Cathy Sharkey, and David Studdert. 1085

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