Professional Liability Actions Pleadings

Question 1

These special pleading rules for Professional Liability Actions apply to:

Answer 1

Actions in which a professional liability cliam is asserted by or on behalf of a patient or client of the licensed professional against:

(1) A licensed professional; and/or
(2) A partnership, corporation, or similar entity responsible for a licensed professional who deviated from an acceptable professional standard, e.g., claim for lack of informed consent

Question 2

Licensed Professionals

Answer 2

Health care providers, accountants, architects, chiropractors, dentists, engineers, land surveryors, nurse, optometirists, pharmacists, physical therapists, psychologists, verterinarians, and attorneys

Complaint must identify each defensnt against whom the plaintiff is asserting professional liability claim

Question 3

Certifications of Merit: Requirements

Answer 3

Ps asserting professional liability cliams are required to file, within sixty days of filing the fomplain, a certificate of merit signed by the attorney or party

Certificate must state one of three things:

(1) an appropariate licensed professional has supplied a written statement that there exists a reasonable probibility that the defendant’s conduct at issue fell outside acceptable professional standards adn was a cause in brining about th eharm
(2) the claim is based solely on allegations that other licensed professionals for whom the D is responable deviated from an acceptable professional standard; or
(3) expert testimony of an appropriate licensed professional is not necessary to establish the claim

Question 4

Certificates of Merit and the Timing of Pleading

Answer 4

Plaintiff must file the certificate within 60 days of filing the complaint (court can extend this period upon good cause shown for no more thatn another 60 days at a time, though multiple extensions are possible)

Defendant need not file a reaponsive pleading until 20 days after the certificate of merit is filed

Question 5

Certificates of Merit and Discovery

Answer 5

A plaintiff may not serve interrogatories or take depositions before the certificate is filed

May seek document profeudction before filing certificate

Question 6

What happens if P does not file a certificate of merit?

Answer 6

Defendant files and serves upon plaintiff’s counsel a notice of intention to file a praecipe seeking entry of judgement of non pros no sooner than the thirty-first day after the complaint was filed

Must provide the P with 30 days’ notice before seeks entery of judgment

P can respond by filing a motion seeking a determination that a certificate is not necessary, which tolls the time for filing a certificate

If the P does not file a certificate within 30 days, the prothonotary shall enter judgment non pros upon the defendant’s precaepie provided that:

• No motion for determination and no timely motion for extension have been filed
• No certificate has been filed
• The defendant has attached a certificate of service for the notice of intent to enter judgment; and
• The praecipe for judgment is filed no less thatn 30 days after the filing of the notice of intention to enter judgment non pros

Question 7

Challenging the Certificate Requirement

Answer 7

If the P contest the certificate requirement, the court examines the substance of the complaint–rather than its form–to determine whether the claim against a defendant sounds in professional negligence or in contract

To estbalish a professional negligence action, a P must show the D’s conduct fell below the relevant standard of care, which usually requires expert testimony