Medical malpractice is increasingly becoming common today. A malpractice on the part of a medical practitioner or hospital is when a negligent act, misdiagnosis or even failure to act in a professionally acceptable way leads to the patient suffering, losing the capability to earn an income because of a disability caused or even death.
Few if any hospitals will not ask a patient to sign some document which absolves the medical practitioners as well as the hospital from anything that might go wrong during a major surgery or procedure. What most people don’t know is that that form or document means very little when it comes to protecting the hospital or its staff if some negligent act happens and which was not as per the set medical standards.
This is why you need to find the right medical malpractice attorneys in Baltimore that will help you win your case when a hospital messes things up for you or a loved one.
When a medical practitioner or a hospital negligently fails to uphold the laid out standards, there is a price to pay for that. Finding a malpractice attorney who specializes in medical cases will help you draw up a case that will ensure that law sides with you.
Such a lawyer will obviously need to be well educated in legal matters but more so beware of all the medical laws and procedures applicable when presenting your case. Without the proper knowledge of how medical law works, your case is bound to fail and this is why you must insist on a good seasoned medical malpractice lawyer.
When perusing through the yellow pages or the website in search for the right law firm to represent you in your case, it is important to note that such a lawyer will be fighting so as to get you justice.
More than that, the lawyer will be fighting to get the best compensation deal that will at least ease the pain or financial burden that a careless act by the hospital or its staff committed. Malpractice lawyers generally get their fee after the case has been settled. It is usually a percentage of the amount awarded by the court. If your case fails, then it is the lawyer who failed and there will be no fee for them.
Steps to take to find the best medical malpractice lawyer
- Know where to start – Given that hospitals are well established and they probably have a reputation to maintain, few lawyers are willing to take on medical malpractice cases. In addition to this, such cases mean that the lawyer will only get paid only if they win. Therefore, finding the right medical malpractice lawyer is probably the hardest process of them all. You should, however, start by asking around for recommendations.
- Pick a few lawyers to research on – You will presumably have a list of around ten lawyers who come highly recommended. The next step is to make sure that their experience, expertise and specialization match what you want. Lawyers who specialize in fraud cases but only won a medical case five years ago might not be the best option to go for. Such are the things to consider.
- Identify the lawyers that you want to represent you in your case. After narrowing down your list to the few lawyers whom you would want to represent you, take the phone and call them. It is wise to be well prepared to give all the evidence about your case if only to let them see the real picture about your potential case. Of course, you will also ask pertinent questions such as who will be handling your case; will it be a lawyer, paralegals or clerks. It is then that you will make your informed decision.