Pursuing A Medical Malpractice Claim? Why Your Lawyer Should Be Highly Experienced

9 February 2016
 Categories: Law, Blog


One of the most common pieces of advice you will be given when shopping for a lawyer is to put a premium on experience. The advice is often repeated to the extent where it has almost lost its seriousness. While the advice applies in almost in all legal cases, consider it a gem if you are planning to instigate a medical malpractice case. Here are three strong reasons for this:

Complicated Evidence

The more complicated a legal case is, the more experienced you want the attorney handling it to be; it just makes sense. Few injury cases are as complicated as medical malpractice issues, mainly due to the nature of the evidence involved. There are several things you and your lawyer need to prove. For example, you need to link your injuries to your doctor's negligence, which may be difficult at the best of times, but extremely complicated if you had preexisting injuries. Considering all these, do you want to leave your fate in the hands of an inexperienced lawyer?

High Costs of the Lawsuits

Just like other personal injury cases, medical malpractice litigation has its costs apart from the obvious ones, such as fees for your lawyer. For example, you have to part with a considerable amount of money as expert witness fees. Expert witnesses are used in many cases apart from medical malpractice, but they are almost necessary for the latter. After all, few people outside the medical field understand medical cases and the associated jargon.

 According to some statistics, ongoing expenses are likely to cost you $20,000 to $50,000 for a simple case or $50,000 to $100,000 for complicated cases. Don't forget that your case probably won't be the only one the lawyer will be handling at that time, and he or she needs money for other cases' expenses too. You need a lawyer who has amassed a considerable fortune to bankroll such a costly enterprise.

The Conspiracy Of Silence

Doctors aren't always willing to testify against their colleagues. This is informally referred to as the conspiracy of silence amongst doctors who fear the repercussions, perceived or real, of testifying against fellow doctors. Therefore, an inexperienced lawyer may fail to land the right experts. However, an attorney who has been in the field for a long time probably has a network of doctors he or she can tap into whenever necessary.

Now you know why you shouldn't rely on a greenhorn to litigate a medical malpractice case. However, you still have a part to play by being utterly honest, furnishing him or her with the necessary documents, and weighing his or her advice before making a decision. You will be wasting your lawyer's knowledge and experience if you don't do those things. Contact a local attorney, like Cobble Jeffrey A Attorney, to get started.


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