Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

Attorneys have a fiduciary connection with their clients and are required to behave with care, diligence and expertise. But, as with all professionals, attorneys make mistakes.

There are many mistakes made by attorneys are considered to be malpractice. To prove negligence in a legal sense the person who was hurt must prove the duty, breach of obligation, causation, as well as damage. Let's take a look at each of these elements.

Duty

Medical professionals and doctors swear an oath to apply their knowledge and expertise to cure patients, not to cause further harm. Duty of care is the basis for the right of a patient to be compensated in the event of injury due to medical negligence. Your attorney can assist you determine whether or not the actions of your doctor violated this duty of care, and if these breaches resulted in injury or illness to you.

Your lawyer must establish that the medical professional was bound by the fiduciary obligation to act with reasonable competence and care. This relationship may be proven by eyewitness testimony, physician-patient reports and expert testimony from doctors with similar educational, experience and training.

Your lawyer will also need to prove that the medical professional breached their duty of care by not adhering to the accepted standards of their field. This is typically referred to by the term negligence. Your lawyer will be able to compare what the defendant did to what a reasonable person would do in a similar situation.

Then, your lawyer has to show that the defendant's breach of duty directly led to damage or lawsuits loss to you. This is known as causation. Your attorney will use evidence including your doctor's or patient records, witness testimony and expert testimony, to show that the defendant's failure to comply with the standard of care was the main cause of the injury or loss to you.

Breach

A doctor is bound by a duty of care to his patients which conforms to the highest standards of medical practice. If a doctor fails to meet those standards, and the failure results in an injury or medical malpractice, then negligence may occur. Expert testimonials from medical professionals who possess similar qualifications, training as well as experience and qualifications can help determine the appropriate level of care for a specific situation. State and federal laws as well as institute policies also help determine what doctors should do for specific types of patients.

To prevail in a malpractice lawsuit it must be established that the doctor acted in violation of his or her duty to take care of patients and that the breach was the direct cause of an injury. In legal terms, this is known as the causation element and it is crucial to establish. For instance in the event that a damaged arm requires an xray the doctor has to properly place the arm and put it in a cast to ensure proper healing. If the physician failed to do so and the patient was left with a permanent loss of function of that arm, then malpractice could have occurred.

Causation

Attorney malpractice claims are based on the evidence that proves that the lawyer's errors caused financial losses to the client. For instance, 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.

However, it's important to understand that not all errors made by attorneys are malpractice. Strategy and planning errors aren't usually considered to be a sign of misconduct. Attorneys have a wide choice of discretion when it comes to making decisions as long as they're reasonable.

The law also allows attorneys an enormous amount of discretion to not conduct discovery for a client provided that the failure was not unreasonable or a result of negligence. Inability to find important facts or documents, such as witness statements or medical reports could be a sign of legal malpractice. Other instances of malpractice include the failure to include certain defendants or claims, for instance not noticing a survival count in wrongful death cases or the recurrent failure to communicate with clients.

It's also important to keep in mind that it has to be proven that, had it not been the lawyer's negligence, the plaintiff would have won the case. If not, the plaintiff's claims for malpractice will be denied. This requirement makes the process of bringing legal shorewood malpractice lawsuit lawsuits difficult. This is why it's important to choose a seasoned attorney to represent you.

Damages

A plaintiff must show that the attorney's actions resulted in actual financial losses to win a legal malpractice suit. This has to be demonstrated in a lawsuit using evidence like expert testimony, correspondence between the client and attorney or billing records, and other evidence. A plaintiff must also prove that a reasonable attorney could have prevented the harm caused by the negligence of the lawyer. This is known as the proximate cause.

The definition of malpractice can be found in a variety of ways. The most frequent types of malpractice include: failing to meet a deadline, including the statute of limitations, a failure to conduct a conflict-check or other due diligence check on a case, improperly applying law to a client's situation and breaching a fiduciary responsibility (i.e. Commingling funds from a trust account with an attorney's account, mishandling a case and not communicating with the client are just a few examples of misconduct.

Medical malpractice lawsuits typically involve claims for compensatory damages. These compensations are intended to compensate the victim for out-of pocket expenses and losses, such as medical and hospitals bills, equipment costs to aid in recovery and lost wages. Victims are also able to claim non-economic damages such as pain and discomfort or loss of enjoyment in their lives, and emotional suffering.

In a lot of legal malpractice cases, there are lawsuits for punitive as well as compensatory damages. The former compensates the victim for losses resulting from the negligence of the attorney, whereas the latter is intended to deter any future malpractice committed by the defendant.