Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

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

Every mistake made by an attorney is malpractice. To prove legal malpractice, an victim must prove obligation, breach, causation and damage. Let's review each of these elements.

Duty-Free

Doctors and medical professionals take the oath of using their knowledge and expertise to treat patients, not cause additional harm. The legal right of a patient to compensation for injuries suffered from medical malpractice hinges on the notion of the duty of care. Your attorney will determine if the actions of your doctor violated the duty of care and if these breaches resulted in your injury or illness.

To prove a duty to care, your lawyer has to demonstrate that a medical professional had a legal relationship with you in which they have a fiduciary obligation to act with reasonable skill and care. To prove that the relationship existed, you could require evidence like your doctor-patient records, eyewitness statements and expert testimony from doctors who have similar qualifications, experience and education.

Your lawyer will also have to demonstrate that the medical professional violated their duty to care by failing to follow the accepted standards of their area of expertise. This is often called negligence, and your attorney will evaluate the defendant's conduct to what a reasonable person would do in the same circumstance.

Finally, your lawyer must prove that the defendant's breach of duty directly led to your loss or injury. This is referred to as causation. Your attorney will use evidence like your doctor or patient records, witness testimony and expert testimony, to prove that the defendant's inability to adhere to the standard of care was the main cause of injury or loss to you.

Breach

A doctor owes patients duties of care that adhere to the standards of medical professional practice. If a doctor fails to meet these standards and the failure results in injury, negligence and medical malpractice might occur. Expert evidence from medical professionals who possess similar qualifications, training and skills can help determine the quality of care in a particular situation. State and federal laws and institute policies also determine what doctors are required to do for specific types of patients.

To win a malpractice case it must be proven that the doctor breached his or their duty of care, and that this breach was a direct cause of injury. In legal terms, this is called the causation element and it is crucial that it is established. For instance, if a broken arm requires an x-ray the doctor must properly fix the arm and place it in a cast to ensure proper healing. If the doctor failed to perform this task and the patient was left with a permanent loss of function of that arm, then malpractice could have occurred.

Causation

Attorney malpractice claims rely on evidence that shows the attorney's errors resulted in financial losses for the client. For example when a lawyer does not file an action within the timeframe of limitations, which results in the case being lost for ever the person who was injured can bring legal malpractice actions.

It is important to understand that not all mistakes made by lawyers are a sign of malpractice. Strategies and mistakes do not typically constitute malpractice and lawyers have lots of freedom in making judgment calls so long as they're reasonable.

Likewise, the law gives attorneys a wide range of options to refuse to perform discovery on the behalf of their clients, as in the event that it is not negligent or unreasonable. Inability to find important details or documents, such as medical or witness statements or medical reports, could be an instance of legal malpractice law firm. Other examples of malpractice include a inability to include certain claims or defendants for example, like forgetting to file a survival count in a wrongful death case or the continual and persistent inability to contact a client.

It's also important to note that it must be established that if it weren't for the lawyer's negligence, the plaintiff would have won the underlying case. In the event that it is not, the plaintiff's claim for malpractice will be rejected. This makes bringing legal malpractice claims difficult. It's important to find an experienced attorney to represent you.

Damages

To prevail in a legal malpractice lawsuit plaintiffs must show financial losses caused by an attorney's actions. In the case of a lawsuit this has to be proven through evidence, like expert testimony or correspondence between the client and attorney. In addition the plaintiff has to prove that a reasonable lawyer would have avoided the damage caused by the attorney's negligence. This is known as proximate cause.

Malpractice can occur in many different ways. Some of the most common types of malpractice lawyer include the failure to meet a deadline, for example, the statute of limitation, failure to perform a conflict check or other due diligence on a case, improperly applying law to a client's situation or breaking a fiduciary duty (i.e. mixing funds from a trust account the attorney's own accounts as well as failing to communicate with the client are all examples of malpractice.

Medical malpractice lawsuits typically involve claims for compensation damages. The compensations pay for expenses out of pocket and losses, such as hospital and medical bills, costs of equipment to help recover and lost wages. Victims may also claim non-economic damages such as pain and discomfort and loss of enjoyment their lives, as well as emotional stress.

Legal malpractice cases often involve claims for compensatory or punitive damages. The former compensates the victim for the losses caused by the negligence of an attorney, while the latter is designed to deter future malpractice by the defendant.