When you learn that you have suffered an injury by medical malpractice, you have a general understanding that you may be entitled to financial compensation for your injuries. However, you may have no idea how to get to that point, and the medical professional certainly is not going to be eager to simply put money in your pocket. You will have a better chance of demonstrating your entitlement to money and receiving enough compensation to pay for your injuries when you hire a medical malpractice attorney to represent you in the legal process.
A medical malpractice lawyer in McLean, VA offers free initial consultations to discuss your case, so you should contact one today to learn more about your legal rights and the possible lawsuit process that lies ahead of you.
You Must Have a Medical Malpractice Lawyer on Your Side
Without the guidance of a medical malpractice attorney, you will stand very little chance of winning your case. You are up against a medical provider and their insurance company, who are often reluctant to admit fault, both because it will harm their reputation and they may have to pay you a lot of money. You will need to come to the table with proof that the defendant was negligent to qualify for financial compensation.
It is far from automatic that you will be able to make this showing on your own. Your medical malpractice attorney has a considerable amount of experience with these difficult legal processes and can prove malpractice and qualify you for compensation.
Medical malpractice cases are very detailed and scientific. Any type of personal injury case is difficult to win because you have to show exactly what the responsible party did and argue why it fell short of the duty of care they owed you. The task is even more challenging in a medical malpractice case. You will need to reconstruct the care that you received, not knowing the hows and whys of what the doctor did. At the same time, you will often have to find a way to puncture the veneer of credibility that a doctor has by virtue of both their training and the trust that the general public places in them.
You Need to Assemble Your Case That Shows Medical Negligence
When you have suffered an injury by a doctor’s carelessness, you begin with an adverse medical result and the suspicion that your doctor did not do their job as intended. There are many steps between those pieces of knowledge and being able to prove malpractice. You may begin with a set of medical records and the end result of your treatment, but you will need to connect all the dots to show why the doctor did something wrong. That is not an easy task for anyone, and it will be seriously risky to do on your own. Simply stated, you lack the professional and medical knowledge to show that the doctor was negligent and how that action ties to your injury.
When you hire a medical malpractice attorney for your case, their primary task will be to work to establish medical negligence in your case. Your medical malpractice attorney has access to expert witnesses that they will work with to prove your case. The experts will review your medical records and the treatment you received to reach their own opinion about what the doctor did. Then, they will compare your doctor’s actions to those that a reasonable medical professional of ordinary training and experience would have done under the circumstances.
Having a Medical Malpractice Lawyer to File a Lawsuit
Even that may not be enough to prove that the doctor committed malpractice. In many cases, the bulk of the evidence that you will use to prove your case will come from what you learn during the discovery process of the lawsuit. Here, you can request physical evidence that is in the hands of the defendant that they will have to share with you.
In addition, you will be able to speak to the doctor and any other witnesses in the form of a deposition. You need a medical malpractice attorney to question the doctor under oath to hear about your case in their own words. That is not something that you will have the knowledge to do on your own.
Further, without a medical malpractice attorney, you will have no way of knowing the true value of your case. The compensable damages that you claim depend on the facts and circumstances of your situation. A medical malpractice attorney can accurately quantify the value of your case before you can proceed. In addition to proving negligence, your attorney must demonstrate and prove your damages to be compensated for them, even before you engage in a legal battle.
Medical Malpractice Cases Are Often Long Legal Fights
Any type of personal injury case may take both time and a considerable amount of legal effort for you to win. Your challenges are even more pronounced in a medical malpractice case. You are looking at a legal process that will take years from start to finish. It is very rare to reach a quick settlement. Instead, the defendant may only be persuaded to come to the table in settlement talks when they see the strength of the case that you have already built. You can only do that with the help of a medical malpractice attorney.
On your own, the defendant is simply going to pay you no respect whatsoever. The only language they understand is risk, and the potential that they could be ordered to pay a large amount of money by a jury. They will see that you have hired an experienced medical malpractice lawyer with a track record of holding healthcare professionals like them responsible for their actions. It is only then that they will realize that you are someone who needs to be reckoned with, and they will have to take you seriously.
Reach Out To A Medical Malpractice Attorney For Best Results
A personal injury attorney is your advocate. They understand the intricacies of personal injury law and in the specific area of medical malpractice. They will fight aggressively on your behalf to ensure you receive the compensation you deserve.