EMAIL US	SERVING ALL OF FLORIDA No Fees or Expenses if No Recovery	CALL US
info@mcmillenlawfirm.com	CLICK FOR FREE ONLINE CONSULTATION	1-800-974-4929

HOME

PRE-SUIT FAILURE TO ARBITRATE

(STATUTES)

Disclaimer:  This is part of the 2009 version of Florida Statutes and it is offered for general information purposes.  The statutes on this site should not be relied on without reviewing your legal situation with an experienced medical malpractice lawyer and making sure you are using the appropriate version of the statute for your case.  The provisions applicable to your potential claim may or may not be the version that was in effect at the time of the incident because some changes to statutes are retroactive and some changes are not.  Other statutes and other case law interpreting or applying these statutes may also apply to your case.  

(The information on this site applies to Florida only)

766.209  Effects of failure to offer or accept voluntary binding arbitration.--

(1)  A proceeding for voluntary binding arbitration is an alternative to jury trial and shall not supersede the right of any party to a jury trial.

(2)  If neither party requests or agrees to voluntary binding arbitration, the claim shall proceed to trial or to any available legal alternative such as offer of and demand for judgment under s. 768.79 or offer of settlement under s. 45.061.

(3)  If the defendant refuses a claimant's offer of voluntary binding arbitration:

(a)  The claim shall proceed to trial, and the claimant, upon proving medical negligence, shall be entitled to recover damages subject to the limitations in s. 766.118, prejudgment interest, and reasonable attorney's fees up to 25 percent of the award reduced to present value.

(b)  The claimant's award at trial shall be reduced by any damages recovered by the claimant from arbitrating codefendants following arbitration.

(4)  If the claimant rejects a defendant's offer to enter voluntary binding arbitration:

(a)  The damages awardable at trial shall be limited to net economic damages, plus noneconomic damages not to exceed $350,000 per incident. The Legislature expressly finds that such conditional limit on noneconomic damages is warranted by the claimant's refusal to accept arbitration, and represents an appropriate balance between the interests of all patients who ultimately pay for medical negligence losses and the interests of those patients who are injured as a result of medical negligence.

(b)  Net economic damages reduced to present value shall be awardable, including, but not limited to, past and future medical expenses and 80 percent of wage loss and loss of earning capacity, offset by any collateral source payments.

(c)  Damages for future economic losses shall be awarded to be paid by periodic payments pursuant to s. 766.202(9), and shall be offset by future collateral source payments.

(5)  Jury trial shall proceed in accordance with existing principles of law.

History.--s. 56, ch. 88-1; s. 32, ch. 88-277; s. 63, ch. 2003-416; s. 156, ch. 2004-5.

CLICK FOR FREE ONLINE CONSULTATION E-mail info@mcmillenlawfirm.com Call Toll Free  1-800-974-4929 Serving All of Florida ORLANDO 390 North Orange Avenue Suite 140 Orlando, Florida     32801 Phone:   (407) 843-0126 Map and Directions TAMPA BAY 2202 North West Shore Blvd. Suite 200 Tampa, Florida 33607 Phone: 813-639-7644 Map and Directions JACKSONVILLE 10151 Deerwood Park Blvd.  Bld. 200, Suite 250 Jacksonville, Florida 32256 Phone:   904-371-3518 Map and Directions MIAMI 201 South Biscayne Blvd 28th Floor Miami, Florida 33131 Phone: 1-800-974-4929 Map and Directions WEST PALM BEACH 777 South Flagler Ave. Suite 800 - West Tower 4 West Palm Beach, Florida 32256 Phone: 1-800-974-4929 Map and Directions FORT LAUDERDALE 110 East Broward Blvd Suite 1700 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 Phone: 1-800-974-4929 Map And Directions SARASOTA 1990 Main Street Suite 750 Sarasota, Florida 34236 Phone: 941-309-5144 Map and Directions ATLANTA 3455 Peachtree Road N.E. 5th Floor Atlanta, Georgia 30326 Phone: 1-800-974-4929 Map and Directions