Inside District Court A Legal
Practitioner’s Guide to the Use of Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article, § 10-104
Craig I. Meyers
client’s losses, is balancing the cost of obtaining justice for our clients against the potential recovery anticipated. No attorney wants to spend thousands of dollars to recover hundreds for a client, and no client wants to go to trial only to lose her entire judgment to expert fees. Simply put, you cannot hire a doctor to give live testimony at every trial for bodily injuries. Te Maryland Legislature, in 1996, enacted Courts &
V
Judicial Proceedings Article, § 10-104 (§ 10-104), “to lessen the burden on the court system and plaintiffs,” and to permit plaintiffs to prove the “basic elements” of a case without the necessity of live expert testimony. Singleton v. Travers, 144 Md. App. 696, 710, 800 A. 2d 23 (2002). Te statute provides an evidentiary shortcut of submitting medical records and bills to a finder of fact, without the necessity of expert testimony. Te tradeoff is that the plaintiff must limit her recovery to the District Court jurisdictional limit, currently $30,000.00. In addition to simply placing the bills and records into
evidence, § 10-104 specifically allows the finder of fact to “attach whatever weight to a writing or record that the finder of fact deems appropriate.” § 10-104 (d) (2). Te statute permits
ictims of negligence are entitled to be made whole, regardless of the size of their claims.
As trial attorneys, one difficulty we face when redressing our
the records to be used “as evidence of the existence of a medical, dental, or health condition,” and permits the medical provider’s opinions to be entered into evidence without testimony. § 10- 104 (d) (1). Bills are permitted to be entered into evidence, “without the support of the testimony of a health care provider as the maker or the custodian of the statement or bills as evidence of the amount, fairness, and reasonableness of the charges for the services or materials provided.” § 10-104 (e) (1). Te use of § 10-104 does not limit a party’s right to call the doctor as a witness; one may both call an expert witness and use the procedures outlined in § 10-104.
The Basic Requirements for Using § 10-104 In its original form, § 10-104 was limited to those actions
originally filed in the District Court only, but over time, it was expanded to include civil actions arising in either the district or the Circuit Court with an ad damnum no greater than the District Court jurisdictional limit. Te legislature has limited use of § 10-104 to claims for “[d]amages for personal injury . . . [m]edical, hospital or disability benefits . . . [f ]irst party motor vehicle benefits . . . [and] [f]irst party health insurance benefits.” § 10-104 (b) (1). Health care malpractice claims are specifically excluded. Once you and your client have decided to utilize the
procedure set forth in § 10-104, you must, at least 60 days before trial, file with the clerk as a pleading, a notice of intent
Trial Reporter / Summer 2012 27
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