LNCtips.com: It's a Party!

It's a party!  Unfortunately, it's not the kind of party in which you whoop it up with your friends.  In legal terms, a Party is a person or entity involved in a lawsuit.  You knew that, right?  Or did you?

Actually, I'm sure you knew that there are two kinds of parties - plaintiffs and defendants. But if you're a new legal nurse consultant, I'm not sure that you know the variations in parties and how they're styled in court documents.  In medical malpractice, the patient is the plaintiff, the person filing the suit. But in some situations, that's not the case.  For example, when the injured patient is a child, the parent(s) can sue on behalf of the child.  In that situation, the plaintiffs are styled as in this example: Leroy Samuels and Jennifer Litgow, as parents and natural guardians of Leroy Samuels, Jr.

When the patient is married and is injured in such a way that it results in loss of consortium, the plaintiffs include both partners. In that case, the plaintiffs are styled as in this example: Robert C. Baker and Myrna L. Baker, his wife.

When the injured patient dies, a legally appointed personal representative or executor is listed as the plaintiff as seen in this example: Jackson LeBeau, as Personal Representative of the estate of Lisa LeBeau, deceased.

In some states, minor children can be named as plaintiffs when their injured parent dies as a result of alleged medical malpractice.  In such situations, they would be listed as seen in this example: Jackson LeBeau, as Personal Representative of the estate of Lisa LeBeau, deceased, and on behalf of Justin LeBeau, Kaylee LeBeau, and Michelle LeBeau, the surviving minor children of Lisa LeBeau.

What about defendants?  Plaintiffs can sue individual practitioners, organizations, and corporate entities.  Here's an example of defendants in a medical malpractice case involving a newborn injured at birth: Northeast General Hospital, L.P. d/b/a Northeast General Hospital, Lars Medival, MD, Woman's OB/GYN Services of Newton P.A., Leslie Stimpson, MD, Leslie Stimpson, MD, P.A. d/b/a The Meadows OB/GYN, Sara Brothers, ARNP, Casey Caswell, RN, and Newton Radiology, L.C.  As you can see, the defendants in this lawsuit include several individuals, several organizations, and the corporate entities of the organizations.

Of course, the exact wording of court documents can vary from state to state.  But you knew that, right?

...Katy Jones