What is medical malpractice?
Medical malpractice is not simply having a bad outcome. Hospitals are filled with patients who have had bad medical outcomes and most of these patients are not the victims of malpractice. Malpractice occurs when a physician fails to do what a reasonable prudent physician would have done under the same or similar circumstances. Doctors have specific “standards of care” for given situations. Malpractice occurs when physicians do not follow these proper standards of care resulting in harm to the patient.
How do I know if my case involves medical malpractice?
The best way to determine if your case involves medical negligence is to seek a consultation with a competent medical malpractice attorney. If your attorney feels that the facts warrant a review, your medical records need to be gathered along with pertinent films and imaging studies. Those records are then sent to an independent physician reviewer who would be in the best position to determine whether negligence occurred.
How long does it take to have my case reviewed?
Every case is different. The length of time it will take to review your case will be dependant upon the complexity of the case and the volume of medical records to be reviewed. Also, the physician reviewers typically have busy clinical and/or academic practices. As such, they typically perform reviews after hours and with time permitting. However, as a general estimate we typically have an answer back to our clients in 30 to 45 days.
If you take my case how much will your services cost?
We work on a contingency fee. A contingency fee means that we collect a portion of your recovery if, and only if, we collect funds. To the extent there is no recovery, you are not responsible for any attorneys fees.
Do I have to pay for your expenses?
Medical malpractice litigation is expensive. Doctors typically do not resolve their cases early on in the litigation process and, to the extent they resolve prior to trial, most cases only resolve at the eve of trial. The expenses necessary to work up and try a malpractice case include expert witness fees, deposition costs, videography, medical record retrieval, etc. Our firm advances those expenses to prepare your case. Those expenses are reimbursed to our firm when the case resolves with a recovery. To the extent there is no recovery, you would not be responsible for any of our advanced litigation expenses.