Where to File in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania birth injury cases are filed in the Court of Common Pleas in the county of the defendant's principal place of business or where the negligence occurred. Philadelphia, Allegheny (Pittsburgh), Montgomery, Delaware, and Bucks counties handle the highest volumes. Pennsylvania requires a Certificate of Merit—an attorney's statement that a licensed professional has reviewed the case and opined that there is a reasonable probability of deviation from the applicable standard of care—to be filed with or shortly after the complaint (Pa. R. Civ. P. 1042.3).
Pennsylvania's medical malpractice statute of limitations is two years from the date the injury was discovered or reasonably should have been discovered (42 Pa. C.S. § 5524). For minors, the limitations period is tolled until the child's 18th birthday, then the two-year period runs—giving families until age 20 to file. Pennsylvania's 'discovery rule' is particularly significant in birth injury cases where the extent of neurological injury (such as cerebral palsy or HIE sequelae) may not be fully apparent until months or years after birth.
Pennsylvania has no statutory cap on economic or non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. The state repealed its prior MCARE Act damage limitation framework. Pennsylvania also requires physicians to carry minimum malpractice insurance coverage, administered through the MCARE Fund (Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error Fund), which provides an additional layer of compensation coverage above primary policy limits—a significant benefit in catastrophic birth injury cases.
Pennsylvania obstetric litigation commonly names large health systems—UPMC, Jefferson Health, Temple University Hospital, Main Line Health—as well as individual OB/GYNs and midwives. Philadelphia has historically been a plaintiff-favorable venue, contributing to significant venue-shopping before Pennsylvania enacted venue reform in 2023, restricting filing to counties with a nexus to the care provided. Cases typically center on fetal heart rate monitoring failures, delayed operative delivery, and inadequate response to meconium-stained amniotic fluid.
Your Legal Team
Sophia Delacroix
Partner
Philadelphia, PA
Sophia Delacroix represents Pennsylvania families in birth injury cases across Philadelphia and throughout the state. Pennsylvania's Certificate of Merit requirement — which mandates that plaintiffs file a certificate from a licensed professional attesting that the case has merit before serving the complaint — makes early expert review essential, and Sophia's practice is built around intensive pre-filing medical record review. She works with a panel of OB, neonatology, and pediatric neurology experts to evaluate fetal monitoring strips, APGAR documentation, and NICU records before accepting a case. Sophia has handled over 80 birth injury cases including a $4.2 million shoulder dystocia settlement and multiple seven-figure recoveries for children with cerebral palsy and HIE.
Education
- J.D., Temple University Beasley School of Law (2009)
- B.S., Pre-Medicine, Villanova University (2006)