Medical malpractice cases typically revolve around surgical errors, medication mistakes, misdiagnoses, or birth injuries. When looking for a lawyer to sue a doctor for any of these situations, it’s essential to find an attorney with experience specific to your circumstances.
Medical malpractice cases are extremely complicated, and medical professionals are usually represented by tough, aggressive insurance companies and lawyers. You need to know how to research and find a malpractice attorney who can rise to the occasion and help improve your chances of securing the settlement or verdict you deserve.
Do Your Research
Due to the overlap of complicated legal and medical matters, medical malpractice is a very specialized area of law. There are procedural matters unique to medical malpractice cases that make working with an experienced attorney absolutely essential.
Medical malpractice attorneys typically either represent the injured parties or defend healthcare professionals from medical malpractice claims. If you or a loved one are a victim of medical malpractice, you want to hire a plaintiffs’ attorney. As you start looking for an attorney, consider these factors:
- Biographical background: How much medical malpractice experience does the firm have? Have the lawyers written books or articles or given talks about medical malpractice? Do they have an education specific to medical malpractice? Check and see if they share verdict and settlement information from previous cases so that you can learn more. For instance, at Janet, Janet, and Suggs, we have team members on staff that previously worked in the medical field, including one lawyer who is also a licensed M.D.
- Association memberships: Are they members of The National Trial Lawyers or their county or state bar association? The American Bar Association can also help you find other local associations they may be a part of.
- Online reviews: Do the attorneys you’re considering have any online reviews? This can help you learn about the experiences other people have had to help you choose which attorney is best for you. Also, look for any disciplinary actions filed against them in the past.
Determine Your Case Level
Once you find a firm to contact, the first step after reaching out to them is typically a screening process that determines if your case is likely to be successful. This screening process helps save precious time on both the victim and attorney’s ends, ensuring that there is a good mutual fit before proceeding.
One of the most important things the firm will be trying to determine is the severity of your case. Most malpractice attorneys do not accept cases unless there is a severe, permanent injury. The process of litigation is generally not worth the time for malpractice victims if the injury is milder or temporary because the amount of money available to be recovered will be either non-existent or will not be significant. This screening process may be able to give you a quick answer to avoid wasting your time.
For those situations where you or a loved one has suffered severe, permanent injuries, and where there aren’t other barriers to bringing your case (such as the statute of limitations or an injury that probably did not result from medical error), a malpractice attorney should want to get as much information as possible to properly advise you on your potential claim.
Make Initial Contact
The next step is to reach out to a potential medical malpractice attorney to ask them your list of questions. Once you have acquired some basic information, you can ask them for a consultation to learn more about their specific services. A good medical malpractice lawyer should offer consultation services for free and will help you schedule a case evaluation when you get in touch with their offices.
Free Consultations and Contingency Fee Structures
Reputable and trustworthy medical malpractice attorneys generally offer free initial consultations after an initial screening where they review your case with you to see if they would be a good fit. Most of these attorneys also work on a contingency basis. This means that, as a plaintiff, you agree to pay a portion of any financial compensation you recover to the law firm once your case is settled or a verdict is handed down.
There are various reasons for this practice within the legal industry:
- First, many injured parties end up in situations where they can’t afford legal counsel due to lost work and medical bills.
- Second, it gives attorneys an incentive to work toward a higher settlement amount.
- Finally, the chance of higher settlements or verdicts encourages insurance companies to settle.
The law firm then agrees to cover upfront legal costs, including court filing fees, document prep, and expert witnesses, although they will take these charges out of your settlement if and when you receive payment. Looking for a lawyer to sue a doctor who’s responsible for an injury doesn’t have to be complicated. Let our experienced team of medical malpractice attorneys at Janet, Janet & Suggs work for you. Our firm has an in-house board-certified physician, and our team has over 40 years of experience fighting for victims’ rights. In addition, we have won over $3 billion in compensation for our clients. Complete our online form so that we can evaluate your case and schedule a free, no-obligation consultation today.