![How to Find a Good Malpractice Lawyer? – [Steps to Follow]](https://www.parkaman.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/How-to-Find-a-Good-Malpractice-Lawyer-300x200.jpg)
When someone suffers an injury due to the negligence of his or her health care provider, medical malpractice has occurred. If you find yourself in this situation, your only solution will be to find a medical negligence lawyer immediately. In this situation, what you need is a trustworthy medical malpractice lawyer whose success rate is proven. The reason is that Medical Malpractices are mostly complex even more than other personal injury cases. It involves many upgraded scientific theories and medical terminologies which only a good malpractice attorney can decipher.
How to Find a Good Malpractice Lawyer?
Moreover in the society, trusting the doctors comes as an automatic reaction. The innate trust given to doctors as a whole makes it hard to prove their medical negligence even if it is to a jury. Due to these complexities, there is a need for you to be highly judicious when you are choosing a medical malpractice lawyer to represent you.
Traits to Look For in a Malpractice Attorney
If you want to get a trustworthy and proven medical negligence lawyer, there are certain traits that you need to find. Such traits as;
- Experts in Medical Malpractice Cases
Every lawyer has his or her area of specialization even as doctors have. What most lawyers practice in effect is a general law which they use to help their clients in one way or the other? They may be good at moving a divorce forward or writing wills for clients, but when it comes to Medical Malpractice, they are amateurs. Medical Negligence Law is complex, and only a malpractice attorney with experience can help you. That is why it will benefit you only to hire a malpractice lawyer whose focus is on injured patients.
- Medical Knowledge
For a malpractice lawyer to handle a case successfully, he or she must be conversant with the intricacies of the medical field. Some attorneys acquire medical degrees even with their law degrees. Although it is not compulsory, you should make sure that the prospective attorney can knowledgeable discuss any errors by the doctor. He or she should also know what the doctor could have applied differently.
- Can Secure a Medical Witness
Even if you retain a malpractice attorney that has in-depth knowledge of medicine, the jury and judge do not know. That is why there is a need for a medical witness who can testify on a Malpractice case. This witness should be a specialist who can testify knowledgeably concerning the standards of medical care required from a doctor. He or she should be able to testify whether your injury is as a result of the doctor’s negligence. That is the reason your malpractice lawyer should be one that has access to such a witness.
- Collects only Contingency Fees
Most people hesitate to embark on a medical malpractice case due to the financial involvement. They are already suffering under the weight of the exorbitant medical bills. The addition of the medical malpractice attorney fees may prove to be too much for them. Fortunately, most medical malpractice lawyers only charge contingency fees instead of charging per hour. In this situation, the medical malpractice attorney fees will be a percentage of your winnings. Furthermore, if you did not win the case, the lawyer will not charge you anything.
- Compassionate and yet Aggressive
It is not every malpractice case that goes to trial. Some of them settle via out-of-court settlements. Due to the intensity and length of medical malpractice cases, it is crucial to get a malpractice attorney that is aggressive and compassionate at the same time. On your first consultation with the lawyer, you should ask him or her on the strategy use. Any good malpractice lawyer already knows that you are passing through a lot of stress. He or she should be able to provide you with support and guidance throughout the whole time of the case.
Finding a Medical Negligence Lawyer
Medical malpractice cases usually have short statutes of limitations, and their success rate depends on how fast you file the lawsuit. That is why you should be swift in hiring a malpractice lawyer.
Steps to Follow to Find a Good Malpractice Lawyer
After equipping yourself with the above-listed instructions of what to look for in a malpractice attorney, you can follow these steps;
- Ask for reference– In case you have a lawyer who is helping you in another matter, you can inquire from him for a good and trustworthy malpractice attorney.
- You may use Lawyer’s Websites– At Lawyers.Com, there are reputable lawyers with high ratings available to you.
- Check on other Legal Sites– there other legal websites which you can search for malpractice attorneys in case Lawyers.com did not prove fruitful. Such sites like Findlaw.com or Nolo.com.
- Ordinary Search Engine– for those people that reside outside Canada or USA, the above websites may not carry all the information they may need. That is why they may need to find information from the ordinary search engines.
- Contact your local, state, or Federal Bar associations for information on good and trustworthy Malpractice Lawyers.
- Select the best and Interview your prospective medical negligence lawyer- Before the interview, note down the specific date of your injury, the particular damage you suffered, and the name of your treating doctor. Make sure to have the basic specifics of your case because the lawyer will require them.
- Prepare a Questionnaire and Book an appointment with a lawyer you are interested in retaining. Remember to ask the lawyer all the necessary questions including the medical malpractice attorney fees.
- After asking the lawyer the appropriate questions and you are satisfied with the answers, you can then agree. Sign the necessary paperwork and hand over all the medical records to him or her. When you release the contingent fee to the attorney, it serves as an agreement between you and the attorney about fees.
Conclusion
Passing through the experience of a Medical Malpractice case is extremely traumatic for the victim and their families. However, when you follow the instructions in this content and find a good and trustworthy medical malpractice lawyer, you are closer to becoming a winner. You will be able to get closure from the painful experience.
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