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Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

Attorneys are required to fulfill a fiduciary responsibility to their clients, and are required to act with diligence, skill and care. But, as with all professionals attorneys make mistakes.

Not every mistake made by an attorney can be considered an act of malpractice. To prove legal malpractice, an aggrieved person must demonstrate duty, breach, causation and damages. Let's review each of these elements.

Duty-Free

Medical professionals and doctors take an oath to apply their skills and experience to treat patients, not causing further harm. The duty of care is the foundation for a patient's right to compensation for injuries caused by medical negligence. Your attorney can determine if the actions of your doctor violated the duty of care and whether these violations caused injury or illness.

To prove a duty of care, your lawyer needs to demonstrate that a medical professional had an official relationship with you, in which they have a fiduciary obligation to act with a reasonable level of skill and care. This can be demonstrated by eyewitness testimony, doctor-patient records and expert testimony of doctors with similar education, malpractice law Firm experience, and training.

Your lawyer must also prove that the medical professional breached their duty of care by not submitting to the accepted standards of practice in their area of expertise. This is often referred to as negligence, and your attorney will examine the defendant's actions to what a reasonable individual would take in the same scenario.

Your lawyer must prove that the defendant's lapse of duty directly caused the loss or injury you suffered. This is known as causation. Your attorney will use evidence like your medical documents, witness statements, and expert testimony to show that the defendant's failure to live up to the standards of care in your case was a direct cause of your injury or loss.

Breach

A doctor is responsible for the duties of care that adhere to the standards of medical professional practice. If a doctor doesn't meet these standards, and the resulting failure causes an injury and/or medical malpractice, then negligence can occur. Typically expert testimony from medical professionals who have similar training, expertise, certifications and experience will assist in determining what the minimum standard of care should be in a particular situation. State and federal laws and institute policies also determine what doctors are required to do for certain types of patients.

To prevail in a malpractice lawsuit, it must be shown that the doctor violated his or their 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 that it be established. If a doctor has to conduct an x-ray examination of an injured arm, they must place the arm in a cast and properly set it. If the doctor is unable to perform this, and the patient loses their use of the arm, malpractice could have taken place.

Causation

Lawyer malpractice claims are based on the evidence that a lawyer made mistakes that caused financial losses for the client. For instance, if a lawyer fails to file an action within the timeframe of limitations, leading to the case being lost forever, the injured party could bring legal malpractice lawsuits.

It's important to know that not all mistakes made by attorneys constitute malpractice. Strategy and planning errors do not usually constitute negligence. Attorneys have a wide range of discretion in making decisions as long as they're in the right place.

Additionally, the law grants attorneys considerable leeway to fail to conduct a discovery process on the behalf of their clients, as in the event that it is not negligent or unreasonable. Legal malpractice can be committed by not obtaining crucial documents or evidence, such as medical reports or witness statements. Other examples of malpractice are the failure to add certain defendants or claims, such as failing to include a survival count for wrongful death cases or the recurrent failure to communicate with clients.

It is also important to remember the necessity for the plaintiff to show that if it wasn't due to the lawyer's negligent behavior they could have won their case. Otherwise, the plaintiff's claim for malpractice will be denied. This requirement makes the process of bringing legal malpractice lawsuits difficult. Therefore, it's important to choose a seasoned attorney to represent you.

Damages

To win a legal malpractice lawsuit, plaintiffs must show financial losses that result from the actions of the attorney. In a lawsuit, this has to be proven through evidence, like expert testimony or correspondence between the attorney and the client. The plaintiff must also show that a reasonable attorney could have prevented the damage caused by the lawyer's negligence. This is referred to as proximate causation.

The act of malpractice can be triggered in a variety of different ways. The most frequent malpractices include: failing a deadline or statute of limitations; not conducting an investigation into a conflict in an instance; applying the law improperly to a client's circumstances; and breaching the fiduciary obligation (i.e. commingling trust account funds with personal attorney accounts), mishandling of a case, and failing to communicate with a client.

Medical malpractice lawsuits typically involve claims for compensatory damages. These damages compensate the victim for expenses out of pocket and expenses like medical and hospitals bills, equipment costs to aid in recovery and lost wages. Victims can also claim non-economic damages like pain and discomfort as well as loss of enjoyment from their lives, and emotional distress.

Legal malpractice attorney cases usually involve claims for compensatory or punitive damages. The first compensates the victim for the damages due to the negligence of the attorney while the latter is meant to discourage future malpractice by the defendant's side.