How Do You Choose a Medical Malpractice Lawyer in New York?

How do you decide which attorney is right for you? If you've never hired an attorney before, you won't know until you're in the thick of it. Here's information you need to know to make you a better informed consumer.

Residents Performing Unsupervised Operations

What happens when doctors-in-training perform surgery unsupervised? Think it doesn't happen? Think again. As more hospitals cut back on expenses, training and personnel, who do you think suffers the most? The nurses? The technicians? The doctors? Wrong. The patient suffers. Read the article to learn why.

"Please Take Over My Medical Malpractice Trial...NOW" pleads woman in middle of a trial

I received a call late tonight from a woman who was in the middle of a medical malpractice trial here in New York. She asked whether I would like to take over her case since she was unhappy with how her attorney was representing her. I told her that it would be impossible since the trial judge would not suspend her trial just to get a new attorney. Nor would the judge give her a 'do-over' because she didn't like the way the testimony was going in to the jury. The middle of a trial is not the time to realize that you don't like your attorney.

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE IN NEW YORK: 3 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF BEING INVITED INTO AN ATTORNEY’S OFFICE

1. Be clear and concise when telling your lawyer what your legal problem is. 

There is nothing worse than having a potential client call and literally ramble endlessly without a defined purpose. I understand that when you make that big leap and call an attorney, you want to explain every detail that caused you to call an attorney. 

However, the purpose of talking to you on the phone is only to get a brief summary. I personally use the call as a screening tool to determine if your case is one that I’d be interested in looking into. I also use our call to find out what you think was done wrong that caused you permanent harm.

2. Be able to tell your lawyer what permanent injuries or disability you or your family member suffered as a result of wrongdoing.

Any attorney who handles medical malpractice cases in New York needs to know what injury or permanent disability you suffered. If you have no injury, or your injury is minor then most experienced attorneys in New York (myself included) would not accept such a case.

3. Have specific documents in one central place.

It helps greatly if you can locate and put into a folder documents such as health insurance explanation of benefits; marriage certificate; income tax records (if you are claiming lost earnings or lost future earnings); medicare or medicaid card, health insurance card; any medical records you may have; as well as a list of all doctors you have seen over the last 3 years.

CONCLUSION: 

By having this information when you call an attorney’s office you stand a much better chance of not only impressing the attorney with your knowledge, but being invited to meet with the attorney in person to evaluate your case.

New York Medical Malpractice-Unnecessary Gyn Surgery

Just uploaded a new informative video about a young woman who had a hysterectomy and didn't need one. Find out what the doctor told this young woman would happen if she didn't have her uterus surgically removed. Learn what the pathologist found after the surgery was over. Click here to watch the video.

Retained Lap Pad-Patient Needs 2nd Surgery To Remove

I questioned a nurse last week in a case where a sponge was left inside a patient during gynecologic surgery. She was a "scrub nurse" who assisted the doctor with instruments. It was her obligation, together with the "circulating nurse" to keep track of how many instruments were used; how many needles were used, and how many sponges or lap pads were used.

New York Medical Malpractice Insurer Has One Foot in Bankruptcy The Other on a Banana Peel

This comment is brought to you straight from White Coat's Callroom, a blog from Inside the Emergency Department.

"Physician’s Reciprocal Insurers, a med mal carrier that insures 25% of New York’s physicians has one foot in bankruptcy court and the other foot on a banana peel. State mandated insurance premium rate freezes appear to be partly to blame. How could this happen if insurers are raking in the money and are really responsible for the medical malpractice crisis."

He raises an excellent question. Why aren't more physicians asking the same question?

 

Nursing Home Neglect

When injury occurs and your loved one needs rehab, what really goes on in your rehabilitation facility? Is your mom or dad, brother or sister really being taken care of? What happens when nobody's watching a sick or injured patient? Read the article to learn more.

A Lawsuit For Every Calamity-NY Trial Lawyer Explains

You can't avoid reading about different lawsuits every day. Open any newspaper across the country and you'll see many stories about people suing cities, hospitals, negligent drivers, incompetent police, employers for sexual harassment, the church, manufacturers and the list goes on and on.

Break a finger opening a jelly jar; sue the manufacturer for a defective product.
A lawn mower blade slips and slices off your leg. Sue the manufacturer.
A doctor perforates your colon and you need emergency surgery; sue the doctor and hospital.
A radiologist misreads your chest x-ray and fails to diagnose your lung cancer; start the lawsuit.
You have a fender bender in a parking lot and bring a lawsuit for soft tissue injuries; start a case and watch it get thrown out of court.

Is every injury worthy of money compensation?
The answer is no.

Our system of justice requires that a wrongdoer who causes injury pay money compensation to the injured victim. The wrongdoer is supposed to make their victim "whole" again. This is impossible when the injured victim suffered significant physical injury.

When a wrongdoer causes physical harm, he incurs a debt that must be repaid. The only way our justice system in New York allows that debt to be repaid is with money. Money to pay the victims' medical bills in the past; the future, money to pay for lost earnings and for future lost earnings, and money to pay for the victims' pain and the suffering he caused.

Attention PI & Med Mal Attorneys! Your Clients May Be Looking for a New Attorney

Not a day goes by without getting a call from a disgruntled client asking if I would be willing to take over their case from another attorney.

One of the first questions I ask this person is "Why do you want to switch attorneys?"

The response is usually one of two possible reasons:
1. The original lawyer has withdrawn from their case or
2. The client is unhappy with what the lawyer is doing, or in some cases, not doing.

When a lawyer withdraws from a case in New York, he must get permission from the Court to withdraw as the attorney. The Court will then give the client ample time in which to try and find another attorney to continue the case.

Clients may not realize it, but when an attorney withdraws from a medical malpractice or a negligence case, the defense knows that there must be some problem either with the merits of the case, or a conflict between the attorney and client that cannot be resolved. In either situation, it sheds a cloud over the case. A new attorney taking over the case has many intangible obstacles to overcome.

Just this week a potential client asked me to take over her case telling me that she had an "excellent case." Her attorney had withdrawn and now she had all the records to give to the next attorney.

When I asked why he withdrew, the response was "Well...he and I didn't get along."
"He didn't want to do what I asked him to do..."
"He wasn't really doing anything on my case..."

I informed this woman that it is my policy that I do not take over a case when another attorney has withdrawn. I do not need to inherit a whole host of someone else's problems. Her response was "There are no problems with my case. Only with my attorney."

What type of client do you think this person would be?

When the client is unhappy with what the lawyer is doing, it's usually because there is a lack of communication. I will always suggest that the client sit down with their attorney and have a straight-forward conversation about their concerns. An open line of communication with the attorney is vital. Stay in the loop, keep informed, and ask your attorney for regular updates.