It’s usually not a matter of if you’ll find yourself at the wrong end of a lawsuit, but when. Medical professionals are among the highest-sued people in the most litigious country in the world, which means if that string of letters behind your name includes a “D,” you’ve got a big target on your back. What’s worse, although for everyone else, a settlement means the end of the matter, that’s not so for you. A settlement triggers mandatory federal reporting requirements, so your name goes on the National Practitioner Data Bank, a blacklist for doctors: a list whose entries are as harmful to your career as they are permanent.