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The American model of medical malpractice liability has been the subject of lively public and scientific debate for years. This system is characterized by a large number of lawsuits against doctors and very high damages awarded in such cases. In turn, these phenomena contribute to the occurrence of so-called medical malpractice crisis. It seems that an important place in the proper understanding of the American model of physicians’ liability for medical malpractice may be the historical analysis of legal norms regulating this matter. The text claims that the modern specificity of the system of liability for medical malpractice is closely related to the development of American law in its formative period in the nineteenth century. The article indicates four features of the legal system developed at that time, which today are identified as responsible for a large number of lawsuits and high compensation in malpractice trials. These include, in particular, linking medical liability to the tort law regime, domination of the civil law dimension of liability for medical errors, the role of the jury in lawsuits for medical malpractice, and the method of remuneration of attorneys in such cases. * The article was prepared thanks to the funds that the author received to prepare a doctoral dissertation on the development of medical malpractice liability in the United States of America from the National Science Center as part of financing a doctoral scholarship on the basis of decision number DEC-2015/16/T/HS5/00432.