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Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

Attorneys have a fiduciary obligation with their clients and are required to behave with care, diligence and competence. Attorneys make mistakes, just like any other professional.

Not all mistakes made by lawyers are a result of malpractice. To prove legal negligence the person who was hurt must prove duty, breach of duty, causation, and damages. Let's look at each of these elements.

Duty

Medical professionals and doctors take an oath to use their skill and training to treat patients and not to cause further harm. The duty of care is the basis for a patient's right to compensation for injuries caused by medical negligence. Your lawyer can help determine whether or not the actions of your doctor violated this duty of care, and whether those breaches caused injury or illness to you.

To establish a duty of care, your lawyer must to establish that a medical professional had an legal relationship with you that had a fiduciary obligation to exercise a reasonable level of skill and care. This can be proved by eyewitness testimony, doctor-patient documents and expert testimony from doctors who have similar education, experience and training.

Your lawyer will also have to prove that the medical professional violated their duty of care by not adhering to the accepted standards of practice in their area of expertise. This is often referred to as negligence. Your attorney will assess the conduct of the defendant with what a reasonable person would perform in the same situation.

Then, your lawyer has to prove that the defendant's breach of duty directly resulted in the loss or injury you suffered. 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 to adhere to the standard of care was the primary cause of your injury or loss to you.

Breach

A doctor is responsible for the duties of care that adhere to professional medical standards. If a doctor does not meet the standards, and the failure results in an injury or medical malpractice, then negligence could result. Expert evidence from medical professionals who have similar training, certifications, skills and experience can help determine the standard of care in a given situation. Federal and state laws, as well as guidelines from the institute, help determine what doctors are required to do for certain kinds of patients.

To prevail in a malpractice law firm lawsuit (link), it must be shown that the doctor breached his or her duty of care and that this breach was a direct cause of injury. This is referred to in legal terms as the causation element and it is crucial to prove it. For example an injured arm requires an xray the doctor must fix the arm and place it in a cast to ensure proper healing. If the doctor did not do so and the patient was left with an unavoidable loss of use of the arm, then malpractice may have occurred.

Causation

Attorney malpractice claims are based on the evidence that the attorney made mistakes that led to financial losses for the client. For example, if a lawyer does not file an action within the timeframe of limitations, resulting in the case being lost for ever the person who was injured could bring legal malpractice lawsuits.

It is crucial to be aware that not all mistakes made by attorneys are mistakes that constitute malpractice. Planning and strategy errors aren't usually considered to be a sign of negligence. Attorneys have a wide decision-making discretion to make decisions as long as they're in the right place.

In addition, the law allows attorneys considerable leeway to fail to conduct a discovery process on a client's behalf, as in the event that it is not unreasonable or negligent. Failure to uncover important facts or documents like medical or witness statements, is a potential example of legal malpractice. Other instances of malpractice include the failure to add certain defendants or claims, like failing to include a survival count for a wrongful-death case or the recurrent failure to communicate with clients.

It is also important to remember the necessity for the plaintiff to prove that if not for the lawyer's negligent conduct, they would have won their case. The plaintiff's claim of malpractice is rejected if it is not proven. This makes the process of bringing legal malpractice lawsuits difficult. It's important to choose a seasoned attorney to represent you.

Damages

A plaintiff must prove that the attorney's actions have caused actual financial losses to prevail in a legal malpractice suit. In the case of a lawsuit this has to be demonstrated using evidence, like expert testimony or correspondence between the attorney and client. A plaintiff must also demonstrate that a reasonable attorney would have prevented the harm caused by the negligence of the lawyer. This is called proximate causation.

It can happen in a variety of ways. Some of the most common mistakes include: not meeting a deadline or statute of limitations; failing to perform an investigation into a conflict in an issue; applying the law incorrectly to a client's specific circumstances; and violating the fiduciary duty (i.e. merging funds from a trust account an attorney's account or handling a case improperly and not communicating with the client are just a few examples of misconduct.

In the majority of medical malpractice cases the plaintiff seeks compensation damages. These compensate the victim for expenses out of pocket and losses, including medical and hospital bills, the cost of equipment that aids in recovering, and lost wages. Victims are also able to claim non-economic damages, such as pain and discomfort, loss of enjoyment of their lives, and emotional suffering.

In a lot of legal malpractice cases, there are lawsuits for punitive as well as compensatory damages. The first compensates the victim for losses due to the negligence of the attorney while the latter is meant to deter future malpractice on the defendant's part.