In a hearing on a motion to dismiss for failure to comply perfectly with presuit requirements in medical malpractice cases, CCL President Robert Peck told a Florida trial judge that, if the gist of the defendants arguments was that the plaintiff did not utilize the statutorily mandated form, constitution flaws in the form excused the oversight. 

The issue arises in a tragic case of a woman dying from brain cancer as a result of a late diagnosis. Though the defendants engaged in extensive presuit discovery, eventually received all records they sought before suit was filed, and could not show they were prejudiced in any way, they nonetheless asked the judge to use a technicality to oust the plaintiff from court. Florida lawyer Sean Dominic, counsel for the plaintiff, argued that repeated Florida precedent rejected the defendants' stance. He brought CCL's Peck into the case to emphasize the constitutional basis for those precedents. Peck told the court that the form required the plaintiff to sign releases inconsistent and irreconcilable with Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.650, thereby violating the Florida Constitution's exclusive assignment of primacy over court processes to the Florida Supreme Court. The form also violated Florida's strong right of privacy and its guarantee of access to the courts, Peck said.

The case, heard in Osceola County, Florida, was taken under advisement.