You have been served: the first 48 hours

The first 48 hours can decide whether counsel can protect a response deadline and preserve the record. Record the service date. Preserve the record. Then follow the issued policy's claim-notice clause. Do not assume a call to a broker, an oral report, or an application update satisfies policy notice.

A summons gives formal notice of a lawsuit. A complaint states the plaintiff's allegations and requested relief.

Send the packet through the policy's notice path

Use the claims contact and method stated in the policy. Send the complete summons and complaint, the service date, and every earlier demand or notice. Keep confirmation of what you sent and when.

The policy's notice provision states when and how to report a claim. A claims-made policy usually requires reporting during the applicable reporting period.

If the insurer accepts the matter under the issued policy, it may assign a claims professional and defense counsel. Defense counsel represents an insured physician or entity as the policy provides. The insurer's coverage position and defense obligation remain policy-specific.

In California, a 90-day notice-of-intent letter can arrive before a lawsuit. Code of Civil Procedure section 364 generally requires that notice. If you already reported it, tell the claims contact that the complaint has arrived. Otherwise, send both documents through the policy's notice path.

If you practice in a group, follow the group's claim procedure. The complaint can name or affect the practice entity.

Preserve the medical record

Do not alter, backdate, annotate, reorganize, or add a late entry to the existing record. An electronic health record can record access, edits, and timestamps in its audit trail.

You can read the record. Do not change it. If care continues, is transferred, or ends, use a safe clinical and legal plan. Ask counsel how to separate a necessary new clinical entry from the preserved historical record.

Control who receives case information

Ask defense counsel who can receive case facts. The claims professional and defense team will need them. A spouse, trusted person, or clinician can give personal support without receiving patient records or legal strategy.

Do not discuss the litigation with colleagues, the patient, family, opposing counsel, or online outside defense-counsel guidance. Litigation does not erase ongoing clinical needs. Do not use this instruction to delay urgent patient care, a safe handoff, or legally required communication.

Ask the claims professional about physician support. Read how to work and live through a lawsuit for health, practice, and family guidance.

Collect five items

The summons and complaint, with the date and method of service written down. The actual papers, service facts, court orders, and counsel determine the response path.
Your policy declarations page for the current year and each year of care at issue.
The care dates: when you first and last saw the patient, from your schedule, not from memory.
The CCP 364 notice-of-intent letter, if one came.
Your current CV.

Give these items to the policy's required claims contact and to assigned counsel. Keep the originals and preserve the files in their existing condition.

Do not respond on your own

California summons language generally directs a defendant to respond within 30 days after service. Code of Civil Procedure section 412.20 supplies that instruction. The actual papers, service facts, court orders, and counsel determine the response deadline. Defense counsel prepares and files the response when retained.

A court can enter a default when a defendant does not respond. A default lets the court proceed without the defendant's response.

Do not investigate the plaintiff. Do not contact witnesses on your own. Give their names and contact information to defense counsel.

Read how often physicians pay above policy limits for closed-claim data on personal payments.

Is the Medical Board involved?

The lawsuit filing alone does not trigger the main malpractice payment report. Business and Professions Code section 801.01 ties that report to the result.

The section covers a settlement over $30,000. It also covers an arbitration award or civil judgment of any amount, subject to the statute's terms. The report is generally due within 30 days of the signed settlement, service of the award, or entry of judgment.

The statute identifies the insurer, physician or counsel, and a self-insured government agency as possible reporters in specified circumstances. Ask defense counsel to identify the applicable reporting route.

Reporting and public disclosure use different rules. Section 803.1 requires disclosure after three qualifying settlements in 10 years for a low-risk specialty. The threshold is four settlements for a high-risk specialty.

Section 2027 uses a five-year period for the Board's online physician profile. The profile does not show the actual settlement amount. A single reported settlement does not meet either settlement-count threshold.

Expected timing

The summons commonly states a 30-day response period, but do not calculate the deadline from memory. Written discovery can follow over several months. A deposition can occur months or more than a year later.

National closed-claim research found an average of 19 months from filing to resolution. Another study found about 43 months from the medical event to resolution.

Plan clinical coverage and household responsibilities for a case that can last several years. Read what happens at a malpractice deposition before testimony preparation.

During the first 48 hours, preserve the record, use the issued policy's notice path, identify the claims and counsel contacts, and collect the five listed items. These actions give the defense team the documents needed to assess the response path. They do not decide coverage; the issued policy, endorsements, and facts do that.