To help understand the evolving landscape of medical malpractice, we spoke with the claims management team at Curi, a leader in health care risk and insurance solutions. They offer valuable insights into the complex factors driving today’s malpractice claims, the trends shaping the industry, and the challenges insurers and health care providers must navigate to protect both patients and practitioners.
TRENDS AND PATTERNS
What recent trends are you seeing in the volume and severity of medical malpractice claims?
For our Northeast-focused team, the majority of new cases are venued in Philadelphia. Plaintiffs’ counsel seem to go out of their way to find some way to connect to Philadelphia County in order to take advantage of the venue. We have a case now where a co-defendant resident was named and their involvement with the patient was minimal. It seems apparent she was only named because she is a resident of Philadelphia County. There is no other affiliation with regard to where the care took place or the parties. We are also seeing some less severe and less meritorious claims being filed in Philadelphia County, likely because it is a challenging venue for defendants.
In New Jersey, we are seeing an increase in the severity of claims being pursued. This may be due to the rising expenses in putting together a medical malpractice case, particularly the cost of retaining experts, which has greatly increased over the past several years.
Have you observed any changes in the types of providers or specialties most affected by claims?
We have not observed significant changes in providers or specialty types most affected by claims. In our experience, the providers who have traditionally been at higher risk for claims remain so today.
Are there specific provider types or geographic regions showing disproportionate increases in claims?
We have not noticed any significant trends as far as provider types. As far as geographic regions (besides Philadelphia), we have seen an increase in cases being filed in New Jersey in the middle of the state. This may be due to an increase in population in those counties along with a migration of people in urban areas due to rising property costs.
LEGAL AND REGULATORY LANDSCAPE
How are current legal trends-such as nuclear verdicts or social inflation—affecting your claims exposure?
The current legal environment is negatively impacting claims exposure. The word “negotiation” seems to have lost its meaning as demands routinely start well above available coverage limits, and plaintiffs seem to show limited flexibility. Even reasonable counteroffers are sometimes met with only minimal movement, making it difficult to reach balanced resolutions.
As far as social inflation is concerned, a new tactic from the plaintiffs’ side is to really focus on the non-economic damages to appeal to the jury. If true economic damages are presented, it is more of a secondary focus. This is particularly challenging for the defense as the jury pools begin to draw more heavily on the younger generations who tend to generally award higher non-economic damages.
How are changes in tort reform or state-specific regulations affecting your claims handling strategies?
Unfortunately, we aren’t seeing any tort reform in the Northeastern states that our team handles. However, Curi has partnered with state medical associations and legal and lobbying experts in recent months to help advance tort reform bills in some other states where we have clients.
Are you adjusting your litigation strategies in light of higher jury awards or more aggressive plaintiff attorneys?
We are moving more cases to high/low binding arbitrations when there is an opportunity to do so.
CLAIMS HANDLING FUTURE OUTLOOK
What emerging risks or developments (e.g., telemedicine, Al in diagnostics) do you think will significantly impact medical malpractice in the next three to five years?
Al will have a significant impact on medical malpractice cases as more health care providers and health systems begin to use it for diagnostic purposes and notetaking. Medical providers will need to use Al as a tool and not become complacent about allowing it to be the final word. In our own use of Al for note taking or summarizing information, we have seen things interpreted incorrectly or misstated. The human element remains critical in the process.
What keeps you up at night when thinking about the future of medical malpractice claims?
We have found ourselves asking lately, “What monetary amount will shock the conscience of the court?”
We have observed a significant plaintiff-leaning shift in certain jurisdictions. Judges also appear to be taking a more active role in cases, often engaging with defendants and their insurance carriers directly. While these judges may intend to facilitate resolution, it often places undue pressure on defendants to consent to settlements—even in cases that we believe should be defended and tried.
As there continue to be fewer independent physician practices, we have also been experiencing an issue with the larger health systems not waiving conflicts for defense counsel even when the hospital or system are not named in the suit for which a waiver is being sought. We experienced this in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. We recently had a case where we had to go to five different defense firms before we found someone who could handle the case for our insured physician.
Finally, we are seeing fewer global settlements. Plaintiffs’ counsel have become very savvy at peeling off defendants with individual settlements and threatening the remaining parties with the potential for bad faith claims.
Responses shared by Curi
Curi is a full-service advisory firm comprised of three distinct businesses: Curi Insurance, Curi Advisory, and Curi Capital. The claims team is grounded by a deep commitment to defending good medicine, partnering closely with firms like Marshall Dennehey and investing substantially in the defense of its cases. Visit Curi’s website.
The Quarterly Dose – November 2025, has been prepared for our readers by Marshall Dennehey. It is solely intended to provide information on recent legal developments and is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. We welcome the opportunity to provide such legal assistance as you require on this and other subjects. If you receive the alerts in error, please send a note to tamontemuro@mdwcg.com. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING pursuant to New York RPC 7.1. © 2025 Marshall Dennehey. All Rights Reserved.
