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Attorney advice needed
self | 7/26/05 | Mfreddy

Posted on 07/26/2005 6:38:49 PM PDT by mfreddy

In February '04 my wife gave birth to a son who suffered a massive brain injury 12 hours after birth. After much counseling and consideration we have decided to consult with a leading med/mal attorney who has been consulting with experts regarding the merits of a possible case against a number of providers that were involved prior to as well as after delivery.

My question is regarding fees. I believe there are general standards regarding fees and I'd like to know what is appropriate and reasonable. Is this something that can be negotiated? The attorney reviewing this matter is a leader and well recognized in the med/mal world and I don't want to offend him. I feel I need to obtain advice in this matter before meeting with him later this week. My wife and I have not entered into any agreements to date and want to be prepared as we approach this subject. His research so far has been extensive and he has agreed to provide this service without charge due to the possible merits of our case.

Thanks to all that can help.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: fees; legaladvice; moneygrubbing; notnews; personalvanity
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To: mfreddy
Today I go to the hospital to do my last day of Obstetrics in this rotation. After 15 years as a GMO for the Army I decided to get Board Certified in Family Practice and am an Intern at 51. The hospital I work in has a program in Obstetrics and I had been giving serious consideration to changing to that program. Thank you for jolting me back to my senses. God Bless You and your family. Your are an answered prayer for me and mine. I wouldn't last when people are so ready to lawyer up. You don't need to share the details of your family's care, it isn't hard to figure, for some reason the baby was premature. Abruption, premature labor, c-section for fetal distress, whatever. But in your mind it is someone else's fault. Maybe I should just get out of medicine altogether, but thanks for making my mind up about OB/Gyn.
241 posted on 07/27/2005 1:35:25 AM PDT by wastoute
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To: Eaker
If the doctor was doing a job of work for pay and did not perform in a workmanlike fashion then they must pay the consequences.

Every medical procedure has an associated risk. Unless the doctor(s) committed gross negligence such as dropping the kid on the floor, you either accept those risks or 'do-it-yourself'!

My direct and 'brutal' reply was based on the image the questioner projected of himself as a greedy opportunist trolling a public forum for rates from ambulance chasing attorneys. No sympathy here!

242 posted on 07/27/2005 3:49:06 AM PDT by varon (Allegiance to the constitution, always. Allegiance to a political party, never.)
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To: js1138

How do you think that evidence is gotten?


243 posted on 07/27/2005 4:07:37 AM PDT by chris1 ("Make the other guy die for his country" - George S. Patton, Jr.)
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To: salbam

In a case like this, there is no question of there being injury to mfreddy's son. It's a question of liability.

It's safe to assume that the attorney reviewing the case has obtained all of the medical records to establish if there is liabiilty on the part of the hospital or doctors or other staff. Just because there is damage doesn't establish liabiilty.

A good lawyer won't sue without having established from the records that there is liability. That is not to say that there aren't lawyers who, not finding liability, will sue anyway and try to shake down the hospital and/or doctors.

The idea of medical expert witnesses is to have someone credentialed look at the records and come up with an opinion of what happened and to see if the hospital and doctors performed within the professional 'standards of care.' Doctors do screw up frequently enough, but they're also not really gods, and sometimes "stuff" happens. The medical expert witness in a law suit is not typically a treating physician who's rendered a second opinion.

And, I grant, there are plenty of doctors who will qualify as "expert witnesses" and say absolutely anything the paying lawyer wants him or her to say. That doctor would be countered by an equally credentialed expert from the other side. Then, if it goes to court, it's for a jury to decide.

Maybe I work for the one in a million lawyer, but he's turned down cases that at first blush appeared to be potentially large medical malpractice cases. After having an independent medical consultant review every last page of the medical records, repeatedly if need be, he's had to tell the grieving parents that they didn't have a cause of action. (the 'stuff happens' syndrome). There are doctors and lawyers who DO care about the truth and are not in it exclusively for the fees or for winning at all costs.


244 posted on 07/27/2005 5:36:36 AM PDT by EDINVA
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To: salbam

You're very emotional, aren't you?


Hysterical even.


245 posted on 07/27/2005 5:51:09 AM PDT by Petronski (I love Cyborg!)
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To: Iwo Jima

Have you ever before met such a sanctimonious twit? LOL

I heard violins too.


246 posted on 07/27/2005 5:57:40 AM PDT by Petronski (I love Cyborg!)
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To: varon
Every medical procedure has an associated risk.

Nearly everything one does has a risk attached. That doesn't forgive not handling a firearm properly or skydiving without a chute.

Doctors screw up and it is not usually they that are hurt or die. It is the patient that trusts them to not leave a sponge in their body during surgery.

Either one has a case or one doesn't. It appears that you have been sued and lost. Did it dawn on you that maybe you did screw up?

247 posted on 07/27/2005 6:00:29 AM PDT by Eaker (My Wife Rocks!)
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To: All

The lawyer ultimately can't do squat without your continued permission. You can put the halt on it, or ask any questions you jolly well please any time during the process and if you don't get answers that make sense you can call a stop to any aspect of it that you please. I did this myself once, when a lawyer suggested in a car accident case that I make a claim for back injuries that I knew I already had and did not reappear till over a year after the accident. I said nix, I didn't see a connection myself, and that I was not going to sign my John Hancock to that -- but otherwise let the proceeding go forward. (There were other injuries and permanent damage that WERE tied to the accident.)

Just make sure to ask enough questions to understand what's going on, and if something that looks obviously wrong seems to be taking place, you can tell the lawyers to stop. It's your conscience and your right.


248 posted on 07/27/2005 6:11:47 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (No wonder the Southern Baptist Church threw Greer out: Only one god per church! [Ann Coulter])
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To: Petronski
I'm nominating him for a Nobel Prize in self-pity. And for sainthood.
249 posted on 07/27/2005 7:28:06 AM PDT by Iwo Jima
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To: chris1
How do you think that evidence is gotten?

I would think that first you have to have a reason to gather the evidence, a reason to believe there was willful neglect or malpractice.

The key questions that need to be answered immediately are, what symptom leads you to believe there is something to investigate? Has any free internet research been conducted that suggests malpractice? Has another doctor been consulted?

There may in fact been some serious malpractice, but the question, as presented, showed no curiosity about what happened. I will give the benefit of the doubt to someone who is in the middle of a personal tragedy and may not express himself to his best advantage.

250 posted on 07/27/2005 8:12:48 AM PDT by js1138 (e unum pluribus)
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To: js1138

"willful neglect or malpractice"

The standard of proof for negligence is not "wilfull"

No one commits willful negligence. That is called either recklesness or intentional, which could be a crime.

Negligence often involves deviating from an accepted standard of care by similar professionals in the same circumstance.

Believe it or not, med mal cases are very hard to prove.


251 posted on 07/27/2005 9:24:27 AM PDT by chris1 ("Make the other guy die for his country" - George S. Patton, Jr.)
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To: chris1
Believe it or not, med mal cases are very hard to prove.

Don't have to prove anything. Just convince a jury someone is entitled to something

252 posted on 07/27/2005 9:35:04 AM PDT by paul51 (11 September 2001 - Never forget)
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To: wastoute
Maybe I should just get out of medicine altogether, but thanks for making my mind up about OB/Gyn.

Nice to see that some good came out of this thread. Good luck in your Family Practice.

253 posted on 07/27/2005 9:58:36 AM PDT by balrog666 (A myth by any other name is still inane.)
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To: chris1
Believe it or not, med mal cases are very hard to prove.

I believe it. Which is why I was curious why a lawyer was going to be consulted prior to a second or third medical opinion.

If I missed something, I apologise. I have tried to avoid rudeness, but some questions have to be asked.

254 posted on 07/27/2005 10:12:37 AM PDT by js1138 (e unum pluribus)
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To: chris1
Believe it or not, med mal cases are very hard to prove.

But you don't have to prove it, just get 12 idiots on a jury (and claim to channel the spirit of a dead child or two).

255 posted on 07/27/2005 10:23:41 AM PDT by balrog666 (A myth by any other name is still inane.)
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To: Larry Lucido
So, read the contract word for word, and seriously consider hiring a contract attorney familiar with the going rates for contingency fees to review it and explain it to you.

For what it's worth, I think that is an excellent suggestion. If you are just paying the contract lawyer for his/her time without regard to the advice, you can feel more confident that the advice isn't influenced by potential payment, since the hours spent are the same regardless of the advice rendered. The only other caveat I'd say is don't hesitate to see more than one attorney. While no doubt it will be very difficult for you to go over the story more than once, you probably will learn something from each and after seeing more than one attorney, will have a much better basis from which to select counsel.

256 posted on 07/27/2005 10:29:56 AM PDT by GraceCoolidge
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To: Eaker
It appears that you have been sued and lost. Did it dawn on you that maybe you did screw up?

I'm going to disappoint you in that I haven't been sued. On the contrary, during my lifetime I've had many opportunities to sue but found it repugnant to take advantage of someone's unintentional misfortune. I don't have trouble sleeping nights and I can hold my head high knowing I've done what is decent.

257 posted on 07/27/2005 10:49:56 AM PDT by varon (Allegiance to the constitution, always. Allegiance to a political party, never.)
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To: Iwo Jima

Actually, those were not violins you were hearing, it was an ambulance siren. You better get running before another one of your selfless lawyers beats you to that cash cow!


258 posted on 07/27/2005 11:44:37 AM PDT by salbam
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To: Petronski

You have proved thru your personal attacks and poorly reasoned arguments an old legal saying : If you have the facts, argue the facts. If you have the law, argue the law. If you have neither, bang the table. You two attorneys have done a wonderful job of banging the table. No facts, no law, just noise.....


259 posted on 07/27/2005 4:57:29 PM PDT by salbam
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