Posted On: October 28, 2008, 10:43 pm CDT

Posted By: Mike

Here are the facts. This was a tough trial, as all medical malpractice trials are. It lasted three weeks and cost Jeff Goldberg well over $100,000 in costs. As is usually the case in Wisconsin, there was no settlement offer made by the defendants because the defense wins 80% of the medical malpractice trials in Wisconsin and the insurance companies do not like to settle. Jeff Goldberg will get nowhere near 50% of the award. Wisconsin medical malpractice law allows the lawyer one-third of the first million dollars and 20% of the recovery over $1 million. The money will all be paid, if the child lives long enough, because Wisconsin has the Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund that pays awards that are more than the primary insurance coverage of $1 million per practitioner. There were two practitioners found causally negligent, so the Fund will pay everything over those two $1 million policies. Wisconsin law allows the Fund to hold the $5 million awarded for future medical expenses, less the 20% attorney fee, and pay the future bills as incurred. If the child dies before the $5 million has been spent, the Fund keeps the balance. The Fund currently has close to $600 million, so it has been holding its own since it was created in 1975 by the Wisconsin legislature. These are the facts.