{"id":905338,"date":"2026-02-11T14:37:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T21:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=905338"},"modified":"2026-02-11T14:37:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T21:37:42","slug":"malpractice-claims-supreme-court-shifts-to-federal-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/malpractice-claims-supreme-court-shifts-to-federal-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court Shifts Design\u2011Professional Malpractice Claims Toward\u00a0Federal\u00a0Court"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Jose A. Aquino | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.duanemorris.com\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Duane Morris<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Courts and legislatures in many states require plaintiffs to file an expert affidavit or certificate of merit at the beginning of a malpractice case, including claims against architects, engineers, and other design professionals. These requirements often function as early gatekeeping tools, allowing defendants to seek early dismissal. A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, however, may limit the impact of those statutes in federal court and change litigation strategy in design\u2011professional cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As my Duane Morris colleagues explained in a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.duanemorris.com\/alerts\/us_supreme_court_rules_state_affidavit_certificate_merit_requirements_do_not_apply_0126.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">January 22, 2026 blog<\/a>, the U.S. Supreme Court in\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/25pdf\/24-440_1b82.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Berk v. Choy<\/a><\/em>\u00a0ruled that state affidavit\u2011of\u2011merit requirements do not apply in federal court, and that reasoning is not limited to medical malpractice cases\u2014it may also affect similar rules for other licensed professionals. This means that people bringing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/professional-malpractice-statute-of-limitations\/\">malpractice claims<\/a> against architects and engineers in federal court may no longer need to file the expert affidavit that many states require at the start of a case, making it easier for those claims to move forward and removing an early\u2011dismissal tool for defendants. It may also change how strict filing deadlines, like statutes of repose, work in federal court, because a case is considered started as soon as the complaint is filed. The decision makes federal court a more appealing option for plaintiffs and shifts how design\u2011professional malpractice cases are handled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For design professionals, insurers, and others in the construction industry, this shift raises important considerations. Removal to federal court may now eliminate a key procedural defense that would otherwise be available in state court. As courts begin applying&nbsp;<em>Berk<\/em>&nbsp;beyond the medical\u2011malpractice context, parties should expect meaningful differences between state and federal practice in professional\u2011liability cases and adjust their litigation strategies accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When one of your cases is in need of a construction expert, estimates, insurance appraisal or umpire services in defect or insurance disputes &#8211; please call Advise &amp; Consult, Inc. at 888.684.8305, or email <a href=\"mailto:experts@adviseandconsult.net\">experts@adviseandconsult.net<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jose A. Aquino | Duane Morris Courts and legislatures in many states require plaintiffs to file an expert affidavit or certificate of merit at the beginning of a malpractice case, including claims against architects, engineers, and other design professionals. These requirements often function as early gatekeeping tools, allowing defendants to seek early dismissal. A recent&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/malpractice-claims-supreme-court-shifts-to-federal-court\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Supreme Court Shifts Design\u2011Professional Malpractice Claims Toward\u00a0Federal\u00a0Court<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10236,9009],"tags":[9895,8795,11913],"class_list":["post-905338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advise-consult","category-design-professionals","tag-advise-consult","tag-design-professinals","tag-malpractice-claims","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Supreme Court Shifts Design\u2011Professional Malpractice Claims Toward\u00a0Federal\u00a0Court - Advise &amp; 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