Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
Attorneys are bound by a fiduciary obligation to their clients and they must behave with a high degree of skill, diligence and care. Attorneys make mistakes, just like every other professional.
The mistakes made by an attorney constitutes malpractice. To prove that legal malpractice has occurred, the aggrieved party must show duty, breach, causation and damages. Let's take a look at each one of these aspects.
Duty-Free
Medical professionals and doctors swear the oath of using their skills and experience to cure patients, not to cause further harm. The duty of care is the foundation for a patient's right to compensation when they suffer injuries due to medical malpractice. Your lawyer can assist you determine if your doctor's actions violated this duty of care, and whether the breach caused injuries or illness to you.
Your lawyer must establish that the medical professional in question owed you an obligation of fiduciary to act with reasonable competence and care. Proving that this relationship existed may require evidence, such as your doctor-patient records or eyewitness testimony, as well as expert testimony from doctors with similar experiences, education and training.
Your lawyer must also show that the medical professional breached their duty of care by not submitting to the standards of practice that are accepted in their area of expertise. This is usually known as negligence. Your lawyer will evaluate the actions of the defendant to what a reasonable individual would do in the same situation.
Your lawyer must also show that the breach by the defendant directly contributed to your injury or loss. This is referred to as causation. Your attorney will use evidence like your doctor or patient reports, witness testimony and expert testimony, to prove that the defendant's inability to adhere to the standard of care was the sole cause of your injury or loss to you.
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 those standards, and the result is an injury, then medical malpractice or negligence may occur. Typically expert testimony from medical professionals who have the same training, qualifications or certifications will aid in determining what the best standard of medical care should be in a particular case. Federal and state laws, along with policies of the institute, help define what doctors are required to do for certain kinds of patients.
To prevail in a malpractice case the case must be proved that the doctor breached his or 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 instance, if a broken arm requires an xray, the doctor must properly place the arm and put it in a cast for proper healing. If the doctor is unable to perform this, and the patient suffers a permanent loss of usage of the arm, malpractice may have taken place.
Causation
Attorney malpractice claims rely on evidence that shows the attorney's errors caused financial losses to the client. For instance, if a lawyer fails to file an action within the timeframe of limitations, which results in the case being lost for ever the party who suffered damages could bring legal malpractice lawsuits.
It is important to recognize that not all errors made by lawyers are a sign of illegal. Strategies and mistakes aren't usually considered to be a violation of the law attorneys are given the ability in making judgment calls so long as they're reasonable.
Additionally, the law grants attorneys a lot of discretion to conduct a discovery process on the behalf of their clients, as in the event that it is not unreasonable or negligent. Failing to discover important information or documents, such as medical reports or witness statements or medical reports, could be an instance of legal malpractice. Other examples of malpractice are the inability to add certain defendants or claims, such as not noticing a survival count in wrongful death cases or the inability to communicate with clients.
It is also important to note the fact that the plaintiff has to demonstrate that, if it weren't for the lawyer's careless conduct, they would have prevailed. The plaintiff's claim for
malpractice lawyer is rejected if it is not proven. This makes the process of bringing legal
malpractice law firms lawsuits difficult. It is important to employ an experienced attorney.
Damages
To win a legal malpractice case, the plaintiff must prove actual financial losses incurred by the actions of an attorney. This can be proven in a lawsuit by utilizing evidence like expert testimony, correspondence between the client and attorney or billing records, and
lawsuits other evidence. A plaintiff must also prove that a reasonable lawyer could have prevented the damage caused by the negligence of the lawyer. This is known as proximate cause.
The act of malpractice can be triggered in a variety of different ways. Some of the most common mistakes are: failing to meet a deadline or statute of limitations; failing to conduct an examination of a conflict on a case; applying the law incorrectly to a client's specific circumstances; and violating the fiduciary obligation (i.e. mixing funds from a trust account with the attorney's own accounts or handling a case improperly and failing to communicate with the client are just a few examples of misconduct.
Medical malpractice lawsuits typically involve claims for compensatory damages. They compensate the victim for expenses out of pocket and losses, for example hospital and medical bills, the cost of equipment that aids in recovering, and lost wages. In addition, the victims can be able to claim non-economic damages such as suffering and suffering or loss of enjoyment life, and emotional stress.
In many legal malpractice cases there are
lawsuits for punitive as well as compensatory damages. The former compensates a victim for the loss resulting from the attorney's negligence, while the latter is designed to discourage future misconduct by the defendant.