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Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

Attorneys have a fiduciary obligation with their clients and are expected to conduct themselves with care, diligence and expertise. Attorneys make mistakes, just like every other professional.

A mistake made by an attorney is malpractice. To prove negligence in a legal sense, the aggrieved must show the breach of duty, obligation, causation, as well as damage. Let's review each of these elements.

Duty-Free

Medical professionals and doctors take an oath to apply their skill and training to treat patients, not to cause further harm. A patient's legal right to compensation for injuries sustained from medical malpractice is based on the concept of duty of care. Your attorney can determine if your doctor's actions breached the duty of care and if the breach resulted in your injury or illness.

Your lawyer must demonstrate that the medical professional owed you the fiduciary obligation to act with reasonable skill and care. This can be proved by eyewitness testimony, physician-patient documents and expert testimony from doctors who have similar education, experience, and training.

Your lawyer will also have to establish that the medical professional breached their duty to care by not adhering to the accepted standards in their area of expertise. This is often known as negligence. Your attorney will compare the actions of the defendant to what a reasonable individual would do in a similar situation.

Your lawyer will also need to prove that the defendant's negligence directly caused your injury or loss. This is known as causation. Your attorney will use evidence including your doctor's or patient records, witness testimony and expert testimony, to prove that the defendant's failure comply with the standard of care was the main cause of the injury or loss to you.

Breach

A doctor is required to perform a duty of care to his patients that reflects professional medical standards. If a physician fails to meet those standards and the failure causes injury, then medical malpractice and negligence could occur. Expert evidence from medical professionals who have the same training, certifications as well as experience and qualifications can help determine the quality of care in a given situation. Federal and state laws and institute policies can also be used to determine what doctors should do for specific types of patients.

To prevail in a malpractice case it must be proven that the doctor violated his or her duty of care and that the breach was a direct cause of an injury. This is referred to in legal terms as the causation component and it is vital to establish. For example, if a broken arm requires an x-ray, the doctor must properly set the arm and place it in a cast for proper healing. If the doctor was unable to complete the procedure and the patient was left with an irreparable loss of use of the arm, then malpractice may have occurred.

Causation

Attorney malpractice claims are based on evidence that the attorney's mistakes resulted in financial losses for the client. For example, if a lawyer fails to file a lawsuit within the prescribed time of limitations, resulting in the case being lost for ever the party who suffered damages could bring legal malpractice lawsuits.

However, it's crucial to be aware that not all mistakes made by attorneys are illegal. Strategies and planning mistakes do not usually constitute the definition of malpractice. Attorneys have a wide decision-making discretion to make decisions, as long as they're able to make them in a reasonable manner.

The law also allows lawyers the right to refuse to conduct discovery on behalf of clients, so long as the decision was not arbitrary or a case of negligence. Legal malpractice can be committed through the failure to uncover important documents or facts, like medical reports or witness statements. Other examples of malpractice include a inability to include certain defendants or claims, such as forgetting to file a survival count in a case of wrongful death or the consistent and prolonged failure to contact a client.

It is also important to note the fact that the plaintiff must demonstrate that, if it weren't due to the lawyer's negligent behavior they would have won their case. If not, the plaintiff's claims for malpractice will be rejected. This requirement makes the process of bringing legal malpractice lawsuits difficult. This is why it's important to choose a seasoned attorney to represent you.

Damages

To prevail in a legal malpractice lawsuit, the plaintiff must prove actual financial losses that result from an attorney's actions. This must be shown in a lawsuit with evidence like expert testimony, correspondence between the client and attorney as well as billing records and other records. In addition the plaintiff must show that a reasonable lawyer would have avoided the harm that was caused by the negligence of the attorney. This is known as proximate causation.

It can happen in many different ways. Some of the most common errors include: not meeting a deadline or statute of limitations; failing to conduct an examination of a conflict on a case; applying the law incorrectly to a client's situation; or breaking the fiduciary obligation (i.e. commingling trust account funds with attorney's personal accounts) or mishandling an instance, and failing to communicate with the client.

Medical malpractice lawsuits typically include claims for compensatory damages. They are awarded to the victim in exchange for the expenses out of pocket and losses, including hospital and medical bills, the cost of equipment that aids in healing, as well as lost wages. In addition, victims may claim non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and emotional distress.

In a lot of legal malpractice cases, there are claims for punitive or compensatory damages. The former compensates the victim for the damages caused by negligence on the part of the attorney and the latter is intended to discourage any future malpractice on the part of the defendant.