What a Medical Malpractice Lawyer Does

Doctors and medical professionals are undoubtedly under a lot of pressure to complete their jobs to perfection and ensure no complications arise from surgery or any other type of procedure. However, there are instances when mistakes do happen, and it can cause a patient a lot of pain and financial headaches. Medical negligence is a common issue and is the third leading cause of death in the United States. This is where a medical malpractice case can come in handy and help a patient receive the compensation they deserve. Rossman Law Group, PLLC specializes in the area of medical malpractice, and you can make take matters into your own hands with the help of a lawyer if you feel you have been wronged. If you or someone you know find yourselves in this situation as a patient, keep reading to gain a better understanding of what a medical malpractice lawyer does and learn how they can help your case.

Build a Testimony

First and foremost, a medical malpractice lawyer’s primary goal is to build a testimony that supports the plaintiff’s case. To develop a testimony, a medical malpractice lawyer will work with medical experts and create theories and build expert reports. By building a testimony, a medical malpractice lawyer will be able to find strong arguments to represent the client and their case to the best of their ability in front of the court.

Gather and Analyze Medical Records

As medical malpractice lawyers continue to build the plaintiff’s case, medical records become a vital piece of the puzzle. Medical malpractice lawyers will also spend a lot of time gathering and analyzing medical records to gain a better understanding of the plaintiff’s health history and try to uncover where something has gone wrong and how it could have been prevented.

Collect Depositions

Another element of a medical malpractice lawyer’s work is to collect depositions. A deposition consists of detailed evidence from medical personnel, expert, and any other relevant witness who could provide an account of what took place by being sworn under oath in order to strengthen an argument. Depositions will also come from the plaintiff and the defendant as well. It is up to the medical malpractice lawyer to find those who would provide a valuable deposition for a plaintiff’s case.

Set up IMEs

It’s also important for medical malpractice lawyers to examine the plaintiff who sustained injuries from a medical professional in order to get a better idea of the incident which occurred and determine the severity of the case. Therefore, a lawyer will set up an examination with an independent medical examiner (IME), a medical professional who can provide a proper and unbiased evaluation of the plaintiff represented in a medical malpractice case. IMEs are important because their medical opinion will give the lawyer a realistic look at how serious the plaintiff’s case might be, thus strengthening their argument.

Medical Research

Part of being a medical malpractice lawyer is not only being well-versed in law, but also being knowledgeable in the medical field as well. Therefore, hiring a lawyer is not just essential in any case, but specifically for cases related to the medical field. To gain an even better understanding of the case at hand, a lawyer must conduct plenty of research that has to do with the plaintiff’s injuries. Research can point out how detrimental the injuries might have been for the plaintiff and add more credibility to their case.

Proving Negligence

Perhaps the biggest obstacle a medical malpractice lawyer must overcome is proving that medical negligence occurred. The whole point of a medical malpractice case is to prove that the injuries the plaintiff sustained could have been prevented by the doctor, surgeon, physician, any other medical professional, or by the hospital itself. There are several areas of law that a lawyer might use for the plaintiff’s case.

• Duty- The first area of law where a lawyer may go to prove that there was negligence in a medical malpractice case relates to the duty of care. What this means is proving that the plaintiff was a patient of a certain medical professional or hospital. Thus, this means that the medical professional or hospital in question was responsible for following medical standards and providing the patient with adequate care. A lawyer will also go into the kind of care, choices, and techniques that are associated with the malpractice case and prove how they went wrong.
• Breach- A lawyer may also point to a breach of duty, which means the professionals treating the patient failed to give them the care that was required based on the medical procedure that involved the plaintiff.
• Causation- The next point of contention is causation, which relates to the point of breach of duty. The lawyer must show that the cause of the plaintiff’s injury was a direct result of the medical professional who did not provide the level of care that was required for the procedure.
• Damage- The last area where a medical malpractice lawyer might refer to has to do with the damages the plaintiff suffered due to the malpractice. The client might have suffered additional damages such as increased medical care, a loss of income, and additional medical costs which could all relate to the case beyond the typical pain and suffering.

These are the areas on which a lawyer will focus when building a medical malpractice case so they can prove the plaintiff’s argument by compiling all the research, witnesses, and plaintiff records.

Representation

If a medical malpractice case were to go to trial, then the lawyer will represent the plaintiff in front of a judge and jury. However, most medical malpractice cases never make it to trial and an agreement will be made in the form of compensation for the plaintiff’s injuries instead. There are several different types of situations in which a medical malpractice lawyer can represent a plaintiff. These situations include:

• Birth injury
• Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis
• Failure to treat
• Surgical failure
• Medical product liability

Unfortunately, all these issues often occur in the medical field, and you or a loved one might have been the ones who suffered from medical malpractice. Knowing what a medical malpractice lawyer does can give you a better idea of whether you need to hire one for your case. If you need a physician negligence attorney, you can count on Rossman Law Group, PLLC to best represent you in a court of law.