Hon. Michael A. Frishman. Part 34, Medical Malpractice.

Practitioner Intelligence

From attorneys who have appeared in this part. Last updated: September 29, 2026.

What to Expect

Judge Frishman runs a tight ship. He does not grant adjournments easily, and he expects the parties to be fully prepared at each appearance. The Part decides discovery disputes swiftly, and often against the moving party where it treats the request as dilatory.

Tips

• No adjournments without extraordinary cause. Come prepared. Requests to adjourn will be denied unless there is a legitimate emergency.
• Have your experts ready. Expert disclosures must be complete and timely. If your expert is not ready, the court will preclude the expert and impose sanctions.
• Medical records must be organized. Come to each conference with medical records indexed and ready to discuss causation and damages.
• Damage valuations must be realistic. The court values actual damages, not inflated settlement positions. Come with a clear theory of liability and quantified damages.
• Depositions move quickly. Be ready to schedule depositions immediately after expert disclosure. The court expects parties to move cases toward trial.

Recent Field Notes (Spring 2026)

• Stipulated adjournments cleared in advance reduce courtroom time. On compliance conferences in Spring 2026, where the parties consented to adjourn before the appearance and confirmed the new date with chambers, the Part accepted the adjournment without requiring argument on the record. Get the stipulation in writing and email it to the Part Clerk before the call.
• Nursing home and hospital med mal volume remains heavy. The compliance conference calendar continues to carry a high proportion of long-term care and acute-care matters. Counsel should be prepared to address pressure ulcer chronology, certified chart status, and EBT scheduling at every appearance.

Field Note: September 15, 2026

On September 15, 2026, our office appeared for a plaintiff at a 2:30 p.m. conference in an estate's action against a hospital. The court issued a conference order requiring institutional witnesses to be designated within about three weeks and setting separate, staggered deposition deadlines for each defendant. It also addressed nonparty witnesses the defendants said the plaintiff had agreed by email to produce: the plaintiff was directed to produce them or provide their last known addresses, and the defendants may subpoena them if they are not produced. An informal agreement between counsel can end up in the order, so confirm what your office has promised before the conference. That is an account of a specific appearance, not a published rule.

Field Note: October 7, 2026

On October 7, 2026, our office appeared for plaintiffs at a compliance conference in a medical malpractice case. The court issued a compliance conference order setting staggered deposition deadlines for each party, running about seven and a half months out, and the order provides that no adjournments of the discovery dates will be permitted. The court will enter the status conference date itself. That is an account of a specific appearance, not a published rule.