While you’d always like to believe that you’re safe in the hands of a doctor or any other healthcare professional, this doesn’t always turn out to be true. Some medical practitioners, out of negligence, might end up causing more harm than good. This can happen either due to misdiagnosis and mistreatment of the underlying condition or overmedication. As a result, you end up suffering an injury or your overall well-being ends up suffering a lot more. 

If you find yourself in any of these unfortunate situations, it’s a must for you to reach out to a medical malpractice attorney to guide you during the case. But because medical malpractice cases are complicated to prove, you want to have the best attorney during your case. This guide looks at the five questions to ask medical malpractice attorneys to know whether they’re indeed best suited to represent you. 

• Do I Have a Case?

One important question you must ask the medical malpractice attorney before you think of how to prove malpractice and be compensated is to find out if you have a case. You need to do this to know whether you stand any chance against the healthcare professionals. Only if your case is rock solid should you proceed either by opting for a mediation hearing or going to court. 

Asking whether you have a case is a fundamental inquiry to your legal advisor and an imperative pointer of law. Your case may not be winnable on the grounds that it doesn’t meet the substance, reasonability, and legitimate limit conditions set by lawful codes in your state. Your legal advisor, who has an eye for such aspects, should have the capacity to demonstrate this to you without lifting a finger.

The medical malpractice attorneys will also look at your circumstances to make an informed decision about the viability of your case, whether it be the damage you suffered or the nature of the treatment received by you or a loved one. Subsequently, they can determine whether or not the physician’s treatment breached the standard of care.

• Do You Specialize in Medical Malpractice Cases?

Another question you need to ask attorneys is whether or not they specialize in medical malpractice cases. If you’re injured due to a doctor’s negligence, you’ll want to be represented by an attorney with experience handling these cases. An experienced attorney who only handles medical malpractice cases will understand what your claim entails and how best to proceed with your case.

The experience of the medical malpractice attorney will directly impact their success rate should the case go to trial. This is because such a lawyer knows how to best build a solid case. Once you get the answer to how experienced the attorney is, you can determine whether they’re familiar with medical malpractice lawsuits. Any lawyer specializing in medical malpractice cases for some time is more likely to know the causes, how they work, and what you can expect along the way. 

• How Do You Think We Can Prove Negligence?

The medical malpractice lawyer should be able to convincingly prove negligence on the part of the healthcare professional. To prevail in a medical malpractice lawsuit, plaintiffs must be able to show that their doctor failed to meet reasonable standards of care. A lawyer with experience in medical malpractice can make sure that the case is presented properly and that the right people are made responsible.

The rules of evidence are designed to determine the credibility of witnesses and their testimony. In any case, how does a plaintiff prove that doctor’s negligence caused them to suffer injury? Proving negligence requires evidence that shows each step in a chain of events that leads from the doctor’s negligence to the patient’s harm.

• How Long Will My Case Take

You’ll also want to ask your medical malpractice lawyer for an estimated duration of your case. Ideally, you want an attorney who allocates all their time to the case to help see it resolved within a reasonable time frame. 

With that said, the duration your medical malpractice case takes also depends on its complexity and severity. Other factors also cause the case’s duration to vary, and these include; 

• Number of investigations and depositions needed 
• The judge 
• Number of parties involved
• Schedule of experts 

With these factors considered, a medical malpractice case will take between one to five years to finish. Should you win the case, the defendant can appeal the outcome, which further drags the period it takes for the case to conclude.  

• How Much Does a Medical Malpractice Lawyer Charge?

Medical malpractices are costly, and the overall cost will depend on several factors, including the complexity of the case and your evidence. If your lawyer is taking on a tough case, they’ll more likely ask for a higher fee to work harder to get you the amount you deserve. This means that you have an opportunity to negotiate if you know what your goal is in court so that it’s achievable through cost savings. 

It’s also prudent to ask about the expenses of a medical malpractice lawsuit so that you know what to expect. Some of the costs associated with a medical malpractice lawsuit include costs of medical records and court documents, expert witnesses, deposition fees, and trial costs such as travel, lodging, meals, and mileage. 

You need to find out who’s responsible for covering all these expenses before hiring a medical malpractice attorney. Fortunately, there are medical malpractice lawyers who operate on a contingency fee basis, so you won’t need to pay any legal fees and upfront payments. Instead, the attorney will be paid after winning your case. 

Takeaway 

Hiring the right and qualified lawyer is integral to whether you’ll win your medical malpractice case. But choosing the right attorney to represent you during this case isn’t that straightforward. This guide made it easier for you by outlining questions to ask medical malpractice attorneys to better gauge if they can handle all your case’s intricacies. You need to know about the lawyer’s pricing and expertise. You need to understand the nuances of your case. More importantly, you need to know if your case is winnable.