Medical malpractice cases are some of the most detailed and intense of legal proceedings. The plaintiffs oftentimes have to openly disclose medical information that might not be comfortable for them to discuss, but it has to be done to establish their claim. There may also be some very contentious disagreements about whether or not the doctor was responsible, and this can get intimidating for the plaintiff. Your lawyer will be the person you lean on during these parts of the case.
Negligence in a Medical Malpractice Claim
In a medical malpractice claim, your lawyer will attempt to establish that the doctor or healthcare provider was negligent in some regard. They will have to have failed to deliver in their duties to you as a patient. The lawyer will need to know what happened during your treatments and will need detailed copies of your medical records. All of this is protected, so don't worry about sharing information with your attorney.
"Straightforward" Cases
It's not always as complex as you might think to establish negligence. For instance, if a couple is alleging that their child suffered a brain injury because a caesarian section wasn't performed when it should have been—as recently did happen in Maine—they're alleging that the doctor caused an injury by not acting as they could have been expected to act. This is a pretty common type of allegation; the doctor should have taken an action but didn't. The parents in such a case don’t have to be medical experts themselves to arrive at this conclusion.
Complex Cases Require Medical Experts
Where the technical details do come into play, attorneys can rely on experts to provide information for a case. They can give the details that are needed to establish negligence in the more technical sense. People sometimes assume that they need far more medical knowledge than is actually the case to determine whether or not they should speak with an attorney about malpractice.
Talk to a medical malpractice attorney if you need to know for sure whether or not you have a good case on your hands. They may want to take it on contingency. This means that the malpractice lawyers work without any pay unless they win a jury award or a settlement. Their legal fees are deducted from those amounts.
There are limitations on how long you have to act. Call an attorney to find out how long you have remaining to decide whether or not to file a malpractice claim.
For more information, see The Basics of Medical Malpractice
