Medical Discovery for Civil Litigation

Lawyers and physicians continue to have questions about medical discovery for civil litigation.  The Birmingham Bar Association’s 2010 Medical Liaison Committee has gathered the resources below that address many of these questions (click on the underlined document names to open an Adobe PDF copy):

1. A Guide to Medical Discovery for Physicians and Attorneys.  The Birmingham Bar Association and the Jefferson County Medical Society approved this 2008 five page guide for medical discovery.  Copies of this document in booklet form are also available from the Birmingham Bar Association.
2. A Practical Guide for the Resolution of Disputes with Physicians over ’Reasonable’ Charges for Depositions.  An article by K. Stephen Jackson, 2009 Chair of the Medical Liaison Committee, published in the Birmingham Bar Journal in 2009.
3. Interprofessional Relationships, A Guide for Members of the Jefferson County Medical Society and the Birmingham Bar Association.  The Birmingham Bar Association and the Jefferson County Medical Society approved this 1996 guide before passage of the HIPAA Privacy Rules.  It still has helpful information.
4. HIPAA Order in Civil Action.  With Jefferson County Presiding Judge J. Scott Vowell, a committee of lawyers developed this form order for civil litigation involving Protected Health Information (i.e., for medical discovery) to comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rules.  This form order is widely used, including in counties other than Jefferson County.
5. Judge Vance form Order.  This form order concerning physician depositions is routinely used by Jefferson County’s Judge Vance and at times by other judges.
6. Judge Boohaker’s Order in Cook v. Tucker.  This order reflects a judge’s resolution of a dispute concerning the amount of the hourly deposition charge sought by a physician in a specific case.