Negligence in the health profession can cause minor to severe injuries and even lead to death. The healthcare industry governing authority has set standards for providing medical services to patients. The doctors and healthcare professionals need to abide by these guidelines and standards of patient care.
The healthcare system in Philadelphia is perfect. However, you never know when you might require the assistance of a malpractice lawyer. If the healthcare professional’s negligent actions cause grave injuries, you need to hire a Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyer and file a lawsuit to get compensation. There are hundreds of small firms, multinational law firms, and single attorneys who can help file a medical malpractice lawsuit.
The lawyer’s expertise and the evidence play an essential role in winning the lawsuit. Hence, you need to select the best medical malpractice lawyers in Philadelphia. Here are six things you should know about them before hiring.
Communication Skills:
The Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyers should have excellent written and oral skills. It will help the lawyer to argue convincingly in the courtroom and prove the defendant’s lawyer wrong. The lawyer must present various legal documents for the medical malpractice lawsuit, and good writing and research skills will help the lawyer write clearly and persuasively.
Judgment Skills:
Not every medical malpractice lawsuit has merits to present in court. In simple words, the lawyer should collect enough evidence to prove the healthcare professional’s negligence in court. Pennsylvania law states clearly what can be considered a medical practice and what can’t.
Some examples of medical malpractice stated by the Pennsylvania law are:
- The improper dosage or medication
- Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose
- Ignoring or misreading laboratory results.
- Unnecessary surgery
- Wrong-site surgery or surgery errors
- Poor follow-up or aftercare
- Not taking appropriate patient history.
- Premature discharge
As per court data, around 21 medical malpractice lawsuits were filed in court, and 13 lawsuits ended in the defendant winning the case in 2021. The lawyer should be knowledgeable enough to conclude discussions with you.
Leading lawyers don’t go after assumptions from the limited information provided by the claimant. The lawyers should analyze your statements critically and anticipate potential areas of weakness in your statement. Read more about Personal injury lawyer near me.
Similarly, the lawyers should also have critical skills to spot weaknesses in the defendant’s arguments. Decisiveness plays a vital role in winning the case. The lawyer will have very little time to make decisions about the case.
Analytical and Research Skills:
As per 2016 data, the Philadelphia lawyer community witnessed one medical malpractice lawsuit that ended the claimant winning damages over $10 million. The lawyer needs to have good analytical skills to verify the facts and medical records of the patient. As a part of practice, the lawyer needs to absorb large amounts of information, distill/filter it and make it more manageable and presentable in the court.
Experience:
Apart from professionalism and ethics, the lawyer should have good experience in medical malpractice lawsuits. Legal experts mention education only imparts knowledge about the existing laws and the procedures that need to be followed.
However, every medical malpractice lawyers are unique. The lawyer needs to analyze the information closely and build a strong case. The more experienced a lawyer is, the more likely they will have innovative ways to decode the information and present it correctly. Also, the experience will play an essential role in a variety of settlements that can help you get an adequate compensation amount.
Case Responsibility:
Before you hire an attorney or a legal firm, you should know who will be handling the case. In big law firms, junior attorneys shoulder the responsibility of preparing and managing case documents. Senior attorneys will present and fight your case in the courtroom.
Don’t assume anything when you approach an attorney. It is always good to know who will handle the case and work closely to resolve it. To sum up, these are things you should know about medical malpractice attorneys in Philadelphia.
