Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

Attorneys are bound by a fiduciary obligation to their clients and they must act with skill, diligence and care. But, as with all professionals, attorneys make mistakes.

Every mistake made by an attorney can be considered an act of malpractice. To prove legal negligence the victim must demonstrate the breach of duty, duty, causation, and damages. Let's look at each of these elements.

Duty-Free

Medical professionals and doctors swear by their training and experience to help patients and not to cause harm to others. The legal right of a patient to be compensated for injuries sustained from medical malpractice hinges on the notion of the duty of care. Your lawyer can assist you determine whether or not your doctor's actions violated this duty of care, and whether those breaches caused injury or illness to you.

Your lawyer has to prove that the medical professional owed you the duty of a fiduciary to perform with reasonable competence and care. This can be demonstrated by eyewitness testimony, doctor-patient records, and expert testimony of doctors who have similar education, experience, and training.

Your lawyer must also prove that the medical professional breached their duty of care by failing to adhere to the standards of practice that are accepted in their field. This is often referred to as negligence, and your attorney will evaluate the defendant's conduct with what a reasonable person would do in the same circumstance.

In addition, your lawyer must show that the defendant's breach of duty directly resulted in injury or loss to you. This is known as causation, and your lawyer will make use of 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 a direct cause of your injury or loss.

Breach

A doctor has a responsibility of care for his patients that is in line with professional medical standards. If a physician fails to adhere to these standards and the failure results in an injury and/or medical malpractice, then negligence can occur. Expert testimony from medical professionals who have the same training, certifications, skills and experience can help determine the quality of care for a specific situation. Federal and state laws, along with institute policies, define what doctors are expected to provide for specific types of patients.

In order to win a malpractice claim it must be proven that the doctor violated his or their duty of care, and that this breach was a direct cause of injury. This is known in legal terms as the causation element and it is imperative to establish. For instance in the event that a damaged arm requires an xray the doctor should properly fix the arm and place it in a cast for proper healing. If the doctor was unable to do this and the patient was left with an irreparable loss of the use of the arm, then malpractice may have occurred.

Causation

Legal malpractice law firms claims built on the basis of evidence that the attorney made errors that resulted in financial losses for the client. For instance when a lawyer does not file a lawsuit within the prescribed time of limitations, resulting in the case being lost forever and the victim can bring legal malpractice actions.

However, it's important to recognize that not all mistakes made by attorneys constitute malpractice. Strategies and mistakes are not generally considered to be malpractice attorneys have lots of freedom to make judgment calls as long as they are reasonable.

The law also gives attorneys ample discretion to refrain from performing discovery on behalf of a client, so long as the error was not unreasonable or a case of negligence. Legal malpractice can be caused by not obtaining crucial documents or evidence, such as medical reports or witness statements. Other instances of malpractice could be a failure to add certain claims or defendants such as omitting to make a survival claim in a wrongful death lawsuit or the consistent and long-running failure to contact a client.

It's also important to note that it must be proven that, had it not been the negligence of the lawyer the plaintiff would have won the case. The claim of malpractice by the plaintiff will be rejected if it is not proven. This requirement makes the process of bringing legal malpractice lawsuits difficult. It's crucial to hire an experienced attorney.

Damages

A plaintiff must demonstrate that the attorney's actions caused actual financial losses to prevail in a legal malpractice suit. In a lawsuit, this needs to be proved with evidence, like expert testimony or correspondence between the client and attorney. A plaintiff must also prove that a reasonable lawyer could have prevented the damage caused by the negligence of the lawyer. This is referred to as proximate causation.

The act of malpractice can be triggered in a variety of different ways. Some of the most common malpractices include: failing the deadline or statute of limitations; not conducting a conflict check on an instance; applying the law in a way that is not appropriate to the client's particular situation; and breaking a fiduciary obligation (i.e. mixing trust account funds with an attorney's personal accounts) or mishandling a case, and failing to communicate with clients.

In most medical malpractice cases the plaintiff is seeking compensation damages. These compensations are intended to compensate the victim for out-of-pocket expenses as well as losses, such as medical and hospitals bills, costs of equipment to help recover and lost wages. In addition, victims can seek non-economic damages, like suffering and suffering or loss of enjoyment life and emotional suffering.

Legal Malpractice attorney cases typically include claims for compensatory and punitive damages. The former compensates the victim for losses resulting from the attorney's negligence, while the latter is intended to discourage future malpractice by the defendant.