Personal and Professional Documents Which May Be Required in Nurse-Midwifery Litigation

Discovery Documents in Litigation

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During the process of litigation, there is a designated time period when plaintiffs, defendants, and other participants will exchange discovery documents. I will discuss Discovery at trial in more detail, later, but I want to take this opportunity to stress, for every practicing midwife, that your personal documents, which you may consider private, might one day become quite public. CNMs/CMs need to be aware that certain documents pertinent to your professional practice and private life may be requested and scrutinized during the process of litigation. These documents can include everything pertaining to your employment as a nurse-midwife, even personal documents and communications. Someday, you may have to produce them for a court and jury to scrutinize.

Employment applications, certifications, continuing education materials, performance reviews, personal diaries and, especially, your social media postings might be requested during the discovery phase of litigation. If any of these documents can be deemed “reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence”, they may be fair game; even those documents that you may imagine are quite personal. These materials can be used in legal argument and motions practice in litigation where the judge assigned to your case will decide which professional and personal documents of your life will become part of the court proceedings.

Dylan Gillis                                 unsplash image

Suggested Documents for Discovery in Litigation

Although the following suggestions may be time consuming, it is worthwhile for you to assess and review the documents associated with your practice as a nurse-midwife. As an example, if you have a work/hospital file containing ACLS/BLS/NRP/C-efm certifications, continuing education credits, ACNM re-certification materials, etc. Be sure that your files are updated, complete, and organized. Depending on your employment, your employee file and its contents need to be personally examined. While hospital HR departments may not be willing to provide you with a copy, you are entitled to view your file at any time. The importance of this is to ensure that any negative or positive performance evaluations, disciplinary actions, or terms of your employment are accurately and properly executed. In regard to any negative evaluations, there should be the opportunity for your written rebuttal, additions, or comment. Human Resources materials are not, usually, deemed privileged and, in the context of litigation, the information in your file could be used for or against you.

Career Documents for Organization

Pay attention to, and organize , your career-related documents (at home and work) making sure that they are regularly updated and reviewed. Intermittent hospital re-credentialing should remind you, to a limited extent. Retain personal copies of your important professional documents; paper and electronic. Err on the side of more than you might think is necessary. Litigation may require a seeming avalanche of your professional and personal paper. Don’t neglect to take a look at your current social media involvement in the context of future litigation. Needless to say, anything that you would consider very personal, incriminating, or humiliating should be removed from your profile. Remember that almost anything you have online can be accessed and potentially discoverable in a lawsuit.

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