7 Things You Didn t Know About Birth Injury Lawyers
How a Birth Injury Attorney Can Help Families Get the Compensation They Need
Although medical advances make births more secure than ever, complications can still arise during and after the birth of a baby. If you suspect your child suffered an unavoidable birth injury, contact an experienced birth injury attorney immediately.
A firm that is specialized in birth injury cases will generally advance all legal costs and only get paid when they receive compensation for your case.
Damages
While medical advances have made childbirth more secure than ever before however, mothers and their infants are at a higher risk of injury due to a variety of reasons. Oxygen deprivation and head trauma are among the most frequent. These injuries can cause devastating disabilities, such as cerebral palsy. A good birth injury attorney can help families receive the compensation they require to fund lifelong care and care.
Your attorney will request all relevant medical records and reports relating to the baby's injury. He or she will also hire medical experts to analyze the evidence and give an official opinion on whether the medical experts involved in your baby's birth violated the standard of care. In a typical case an expert will evaluate the medical care offered by the defendant with the practices generally accepted by other medical professionals with similar experience and training.
Economic and non-economic damages are able to be awarded. Economic damages are for expenses including future and present medical bills, lost income, and property loss. Non-economic damages include emotional distress, suffering. In rare cases, punitive damages may also be awarded. They are designed to punish the party at fault and discourage similar behavior in future. These are different from compensatory damages that are awarded to recover the actual loss.
Medical Experts
Although advances in medicine have made childbirth safer than ever, the process remains a risky one for both mother and child. It is the responsibility of the nurses and doctors involved in the delivery to behave professionally and to avoid mistakes that could have disastrous consequences for both the baby and mother's health. If they fail to do this and cause a birth injury parents may be able to claim compensation for the damage.
A birth injury attorney will work closely with you throughout the course of your case, from the initial consultation until the final resolution. They will collect evidence from you like witness testimonies and medical records, and birth injury attorney also obtain expert opinions from many sources, including other specialists and doctors.
These experts will review all evidence and provide an official opinion on whether the injuries were caused due to medical negligence. This will be used by the lawyer to decide the best way to proceed.
If the medical professional is of the opinion that malpractice was committed your lawyer will file a lawsuit against the responsible parties. This typically includes the obstetrician who was in charge of your pregnancy and delivery as well as any surgeons or nurses who assisted in the delivery as well as the hospital where the birth took place.
The cost of a lawsuit can be high because of the many fees such as those for records, expert witnesses, and depositions. Your lawyer will pay these costs and then reimburse you when they have won a settlement on your behalf.
Preparing for a trial
A birth injury lawyer will take any case in which the baby suffered injuries due to doctor negligence, prior to, during, or shortly after the birth. The attorney will look at two aspects when evaluating the case to determine if there is evidence of medical negligence, and how severe the injury is.
In most cases, attorneys consult with medical experts in order to determine if a medical error led to the injury. The experts will go through all documentation related to childbirth, pregnancy and medical treatment for injuries. They will also be able to determine the effects of the injuries sustained by the child on his or her future.
The experts will help the lawyer determine which medical providers should be named in the lawsuit. The lawyer will send a letter asking the medical providers and insurers to respond to the claim. A good birth injury attorney will know how to negotiate with insurance companies and will be ready to make the case go to trial should it be necessary.
Parents may be entitled to damages for future and past medical expenses resulting from the injuries sustained by their child. Additionally, you could be awarded damages for your pain and suffering. These damages could be substantial when the child's injuries were severe. A good birth injury attorney can maximize the amount of compensation given to parents.
Insurance Companies
A birth injury lawsuit isn't able to repair the harm caused to your child but it could help cover future medical costs such as therapy, home improvements and ongoing support. These costs might appear overwhelming at first, but a competent birth injury lawyer will work with a variety of experts to calculate the financial impact of an injury to your family and how much you're entitled to be compensated for these expenses.
To submit a claim for birth injury law firms injuries, you must first prove that your doctor and your child shared an established professional relationship and they breached that relationship by failing to act properly prior to or during the birth of your child. You can easily prove this by obtaining your medical bills and hospital bills.
Once this has been established the lawyer will have to determine the specific actions that the doctor performed that were negligent and how they affected the health of your child. A birth injury attorney will know what to look for and how to obtain the medical evidence and expert witness testimony to establish your case.
A good birth injury attorney can handle the entire complexity of your case. They should not require you to pay out of your pocket to seek justice. They should be willing to work on a contingent fee basis, meaning that they only receive compensation if they prevail in your case and the amount they receive is a percentage of the settlement or award you receive.