Hiring an
Attorney
Hiring a competent attorney is the first step for the
person who has been the victim of medical malpractice. The client and attorney will
discuss the merits of the case and it is up to the client to decide whether the particular
attorney is the proper person to represent them in court. Once that determination
has been made, the client and attorney will discuss the method of paying the
attorney. There are several methods of payment which can be utilized. First,
the attorney can work on a contingency basis, receiving a percentage of the total
recovery. The attorney could also be hired on a contractual or hourly payment basis.
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Reviewing the
Medical History
Once the attorney has been hired, the client will review
the medical record of the incident and medical history of the client. All records
are important for the process of review by the attorney. The client should provide
the names of all physicians to the attorney, so that the attorney may obtain all pertinent
information. It is also important to disclose all medical conditions and symptoms,
no matter how distant or seemingly irrelevant.
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Hiring an Expert Witness
Expert witnesses provide testimony concerning the injury at
issue, as well as any other factors which may have caused the injury. An expert is
important because an expert can contest the allegations of the defense (the physician),
which will argue that the injury was not a result of the physician's actions, or failure
to act. Failure to obtain an expert can result in the failure of the case.
The expert should be qualified in the area to which he is
testifying. For example, a neuro-surgeon would not be a good witness in a medical
malpractice concerning cardiology. Besides being a physician in good standing with
the state regulatory agency, the physician should have experience in the field of
expertise related to the injury. The expert's statement as to the cause of the
injury will be a large factor in deciding whether or not to file suit.
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Filing a Suit and
Litigation
Filing a suit is a technical process. Once the
suit is filed, the litigation process begins. Litigation is expensive and time
consuming. It is also emotionally exasperating on all parties involved. During
litigation, the parties file documents with the court and present their theory of the
case. The next step of the litigation process is to research the facts surrounding
the case. Once the facts to support the competing legal theories have been
discovered, the trial begins. Once the trial begins, settlement could still occur,
but the fate of the parties is then in the hand of the fact finder (jury, or judge in a
non-jury trial).
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