Q: Can residents be sued?
A: Yes (I was involved in a case in the film days where the resident on call and I(the attending) reading the next AM were sued.) This would not have happened with the 24/7 attending model of call.
Q: What are the basic types of malpractice insurance?
A: occurence and claims made
Q: Which is better?
A: Occurrence covers you for any claim, even if the claim was made years after the insured period.
Claims made covers you for any claims made during the insured period. Folks with this type of insurance typically would want "tail insurance" this would cover you for suits that occur after the insured period. This was an issue for physicians who worked for St. VIncent's in NYC. After the hospital closed, docs had to fight for tail insurance.
Q: What is a party vs. non-party witness?
A: A non-party witness is a witness that was not named in the lawsuit. A party witness is a witness that was named in the lawsuit. There is a risk that your testimony may make the plaintiffs want to include you in the suit and make you a party witness! (Its a party that you don't want to be invited to!)
Q: Which is better "Stipulation of discontinuance with prejudice" or "Stipulation of discontinuance without prejudice"?
A: This is one case where prejudice is good, a Stipulation of discontinuance with prejudice means that you have been dropped from the suit and can not be added back to the suit. Stipulation of discontinuance without prejudice means that while you have been dropped from the suit, you could be added back.
Reference:
http://www.acr.org/~/media/ACR/Documents/PDF/Membership/Legal%20Business/MedicalLegalHandbook.pdf