Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

Attorneys are bound by a fiduciary obligation to their clients and they are expected act with a degree of diligence, skill and care. However, just like any other professional attorneys make mistakes.

Not all mistakes made by lawyers are legal malpractice. To prove that legal malpractice has occurred, the aggrieved party must show the breach of duty, duty, causation and damages. Let's review each of these aspects.

Duty-Free

Medical professionals and doctors take an oath that they will use their expertise and knowledge to treat patients, not to cause further harm. Duty of care is the foundation for the right of a patient to be compensated for injuries caused by medical negligence. Your attorney can determine if the actions of your doctor violated the duty of care and if these breaches caused injury or illness.

Your lawyer must establish that the medical professional in question owed you a fiduciary duty to act with reasonable competence and care. This relationship may be proven by eyewitness testimony of witnesses, 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 to care in not adhering to the accepted standards of their field. This is often called negligence. Your attorney will examine the defendant's actions with what a reasonable person would do in the same situation.

Then, your lawyer has to demonstrate that the defendant's breach of duty directly caused damage or loss to you. This is known as causation. Your attorney will use evidence like your medical records, witness statements and expert testimony to show that the defendant's failure to uphold the standard of care in your case was the direct cause of your injury or loss.

Breach

A doctor is required to perform a duty of care to his patients which conforms to the highest standards of medical practice. If a doctor doesn't meet these standards, and the failure results in an injury and/or medical malpractice, then negligence could result. Typically experts' testimony from medical professionals who have the same training, qualifications and experience, as well as certifications and certificates will assist in determining what the minimum standard of care should be in a particular situation. State and federal laws and institute policies also define what doctors must do for certain types of patients.

To prevail in a malpractice lawsuit it is necessary to prove that the doctor violated his or her duty of care and that this breach was the direct cause of injury. This is referred to in legal terms as the causation factor and it is essential to establish. For Malpractice Lawsuit example in the event that a damaged arm requires an xray the doctor must properly set the arm and place it in a cast to ensure proper healing. If the doctor is unable to perform this, and the patient is left with a permanent loss of the use of the arm, then malpractice may have taken place.

Causation

Attorney malpractice claims are based on evidence that the attorney's errors resulted in financial losses for the client. For example the lawyer does not file a lawsuit within the statute of limitations, leading to the case being lost for ever and the victim could bring legal malpractice lawsuits.

It's important to know that not all mistakes made by attorneys are malpractice. The mistakes that involve strategy and planning are not usually considered to be malpractice attorney attorneys are given plenty of discretion to make decisions based on their judgments as long as they are reasonable.

The law also gives attorneys a lot of discretion to conduct discovery on a client's behalf, as long as the action was not unreasonable or negligent. Legal malpractice attorney is committed through the failure to uncover important documents or evidence, such as medical reports or witness statements. Other examples of malpractice are the inability to add certain defendants or claims, for instance not noticing a survival count in the case of wrongful death or the inability to communicate with clients.

It is also important to remember the fact that the plaintiff must show that if it wasn't the lawyer's negligence they would have prevailed. Otherwise, the plaintiff's claim for malpractice will be denied. This makes the process of bringing legal malpractice lawsuits difficult. It is important to employ an experienced attorney.

Damages

A plaintiff must prove that the attorney's actions caused actual financial losses in order to win a legal malpractice suit. In a lawsuit, this has to be demonstrated using evidence, like expert testimony or correspondence between the attorney and client. The plaintiff must also show that a reasonable attorney would have prevented the harm caused by the lawyer's negligence. This is referred to as proximate cause.

The definition of malpractice can be found in a variety of ways. Some of the most common mistakes are: failing to meet an expiration date or statute of limitations; failing to conduct a conflict check on cases; applying law improperly to a client's situation; or breaking the fiduciary obligation (i.e. mixing trust account funds with attorney's personal accounts) and mishandling an instance, and failing to communicate with clients.

Medical malpractice lawsuits typically involve claims for compensation damages. They are awarded to the victim in exchange for expenses out of pocket and losses, such as hospital and medical bills, the cost of equipment required to aid in recovering, and lost wages. Victims can also claim non-economic damages such as pain and discomfort, loss of enjoyment of their lives, and emotional stress.

In a lot of legal malpractice cases, there are cases for punitive and compensatory damages. The former is intended to compensate victims for losses caused by the negligence of the attorney and the latter is intended to prevent future mistakes on the part of the defendant.