NY Medical Malpractice & Personal Injury Trial Lawyer
1. Your NY Medical Malpractice attorney is not a doctor (in most cases anyway).
Many potential clients ask their lawyer for medical advice about what treatments they should receive. There are some lawyers who actually advice their potential clients about the treatment they should receive. The better legal practice is to advise them to speak with their treating doctors to become fully informed about their medical options. Only by being totally informed can the client make an intelligent decision about how best to treat their ongoing medical problem. A lawyer is there to guide you through the legal minefield, and can certainly explain if your case will be affected if you chose one medical option over another.
2. Your lawsuit is not guaranteed to get you money.
Some potential clients think that if they've suffered an injury, it automatically entitles them to some type of compensation. Unfortunately, that is not true in the State of New York. This is not worker's compensation, or some other form of guaranteed compensation. There are many hurdles that a potential client must jump over in order to just into the Court house door. Once inside, there are still many obstacles that stand between full and just compensation, and the Court house exit.
Defense attorneys frequently say during jury selection "Just because a person has brought a lawsuit, doesn't mean they automatically have a valid case." As much as I don't like to agree with my adversaries during jury selection, I must admit that this phrase is true. It is our obligation and burden to prove your case, the way the Court explains, to the satisfaction of the jury. If we fail to meet that burden, the jury is directed to make no award, regardless of what injuries you suffered.
3. Your lawyer is not your bank.
What do I mean? Some clients think that simply because an attorney has accepted their case, they will at some point receive money for their injuries. While this is certainly hopeful, clients sometimes think that the lawyer is also a bank in which to borrow money against their expected lawsuit recovery. The better practice is to let the client know that the lawyer cannot advance the client money, as there is never a guarantee of winning an award or settlement.
While there are some financial companies that take a risk of lending money to a client against the future proceeds of a lawsuit, those companies charge outrageous interest rates. To give you an example, one client of mine recently received a quote from a financial services company that provides this service. The client wanted to borrow $20,000 to pay for medical expenses. The interest rate was 36%.
After three years, the client would owe this company over $30,000 just for the benefit of borrowing $20,000. This, in my opinion, was a travesty and I strongly urged the client not to go forward with that plan.
4. Lawyers who say they look for a quick settlement probably don't go to trial often.
There are some lawyers who proudly advertise that they can achieve 'quick settlements' on many cases. This suggests that they don't try many cases, and in all likelihood the insurance companies that deal with these attorneys realize this and minimize their settlement offers.
A medical malpractice or personal injury lawyer who is afraid to take a case to trial loses the leverage that is often needed to compel an insurance company to increase their settlement offer. Without the risk of going to trial and getting an award for more than an insurance company is willing to pay, the insurance company looks at the situation and may likely say "Offer 'x' dollars, since we know he's not going to go to trial."
On the other hand, where a lawyer has no hesitation to go to trial, with a case that he believes in strongly, and has medical experts to support their position, they are in a much better bargaining position than a similar attorney who merely looks to settle cases before ever getting to trial.
Hopefully with these tips you have become more informed about medical malpractice & personal injury lawyers who practice in the State of New York.
