Personal Injury 360

How To Find the Best Atlanta Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Medical malpractice is more common than most people think. Recent studies show that medical errors may account for more than 250,000 deaths per year in the United States.

If you or a loved one has been a victim of medical malpractice in Atlanta, GA, seek legal help. An experienced medical malpractice attorney can explain your rights and help you get the compensation you deserve.

Tips for Finding the Best Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Atlanta

Medical malpractice cases often arise out of complex circumstances. The complexity, combined with tort laws and tort reform, can make it difficult for victims to get the compensation they deserve.

A good medical malpractice attorney understands how to navigate this process and get results for clients. To get the best outcome, victims need a skilled attorney who understands Georgia tort law and has experience with similar cases.

Finding a lawyer who is a good fit can be difficult. Here are some tips to help guide you through the process.

Ask for Referrals

A trusted referral is one of the best ways to find a good medical malpractice lawyer. If you have worked with lawyers before – for example, a real estate lawyer, a divorce attorney, or an estate planning lawyer – you can ask them for a referral.

If not, reach out to any family or friends who have dealt with medical malpractice lawyers or who have a trusted attorney you can talk to.

It’s ideal to create a list of a few lawyers that you can talk to, so getting referrals is a good first step.

Do Plenty of Research

Once you get referrals, you can research those lawyers to see whether they’re a good fit for your case. Read about their experience, the types of cases they deal with, and their results. You should also read reviews and client testimonials, as these will tell you a lot.

If you want additional names, check out professional networks – for example, the Georgia Bar Association or legal directories such as Avvo and Justia – for additional referrals. Make sure that you’re familiar with the specialty area, reviews, and experience of all lawyers on your shortlist.

For example, Adam Malone, an Atlanta medical malpractice lawyer, is an active member in good standing and has been licensed for 24 years. You can find this information on his Avvo profile.

Schedule an Initial Consultation

Almost all attorneys offer a free initial consultation. Once you have a short list of Atlanta attorneys who might be a good fit for your case, you should schedule a free consultation with each of them. During this consultation, you’ll want to evaluate their legal skills and determine whether they’re someone you want to work with.

Here are some questions to ask during this consultation:

How does the lawyer charge clients? Most medical malpractice attorneys work on a contingency fee basis. This means that they only get paid if your case is successful. It’s important to understand their fee structure and their policy for case expenses. For example, will costs like court fees, court reporters, and expert witnesses be billed to you regardless of whether or not you win the case? You should specifically ask about fee structure, contingency fee percentages, and case expenses.
Who will handle your case? At some larger law firms, you’ll meet with a partner, but a newer associate will handle your case. It’s important to understand who will be handling your case and how many lawyers will be working on your case.
How will you get case updates? Medical malpractice cases can be long and sometimes move slowly. Communication and case updates are a common source of frustration between attorneys and clients. To avoid that frustration, ask how you will get case updates, how frequently you will get case updates, and who you will contact with questions. It can be helpful to ask if there is an assistant or paralegal who you can contact in addition to the lead attorney.
Ask for the lawyer’s opinion of your case. You will learn a lot from hearing what an attorney thinks about a case – including strong points and weak points. This analysis should include a general strategy and plan for getting you the compensation you deserve. The lawyer’s initial analysis of your case should give you a sense of their experience and expertise with your type of case.

Asking these questions (and any others you may have) can help you get important insights into what working with the lawyer might look like.

Contact an Atlanta Medical Malpractice Lawyer for a Free Consultation

If you’ve been a victim of medical negligence in Atlanta, an attorney can help you navigate a complex process and get compensation for all of your losses. Finding the right lawyer will improve your experience and lead to better results.

5 Signs That It’s Time To Switch a New Personal Injury Lawyer

As a client with a personal injury case, you can fire your lawyer at any time, assuming that you are mentally competent. You might owe your former lawyer some money as a result, but that doesn’t mean you have to continue allowing substandard representation. Following are some red flags that should tell you that you need a new lawyer.

Your Lawyer Is Not Communicating With You

Lack of communication is perhaps the number one reason clients fire their lawyers. Your lawyer should update you on your case (without your constant prompting) and respond promptly and thoroughly to your questions and concerns. A terse “yes” or “no” answer shouldn’t satisfy you, no matter how busy the lawyer is.

Your lawyer’s failure to communicate with you on your case might be telling you something. For example, it might be telling you that your lawyer has no news to report because they are not pursuing your case. A large firm might treat you as nothing more than a case number. It might also be that your lawyer has delegated your case to a paralegal or a junior lawyer with whom they rarely communicate.

You Don’t Like Your Lawyer

It might seem frivolous to fire your lawyer simply because of a personal dislike. It might still be the right thing to do, however, for the following reasons:

You and your lawyer work best as a team, with you making the major decisions and your lawyer deciding on tactical matters and executing your decisions. If you two don’t like each other, you’re not likely to work effectively together. If your lawyer doesn’t like you either, they might not give their best effort.
Sometimes, it’s a good idea to go with your “gut feeling.” This isn’t an appeal to magic. Your unconscious mind is a repository of facts that are too numerous to fit into your conscious mind’s limited storage space. A conclusion arising from these hidden facts could surface in your conscious mind as a gut feeling.

Of course, don’t go overboard with this. Don’t fire your lawyer simply because they physically resemble your ex-spouse, for example.

Your Lawyer Has Little or No Trial Experience

Some lawyers possess rich experience negotiating personal injury settlements but do not win at trial. While this might sound good, such a lawyer is not necessarily your best choice. Ironically, this is particularly likely to be true if you plan to negotiate an out-of-court settlement to avoid trial.

This is because insurance companies respect lawyers who have proven the ability to take them to court and win. Without this experience, the insurance company will not respect your lawyer. They might settle your claim, but they will settle it for less than what it would have been worth if you had hired an experienced trial lawyer whom insurance companies know and fear.

You’ve Discovered a Conflict of Interest Involving Your Lawyer

A conflict of interest occurs when your lawyer would benefit from doing something that would harm you or not doing something that would help you. Following are some examples of conflicts of interest in personal injury law:

Your lawyer represents both you and the defendant in the same case. The most common form this conflict takes is when a lawyer represents a couple seeking an ‘amicable’ divorce that later turns rancorous.
You are suing a company, and your lawyer is a shareholder in the company.
Your lawyer has a close personal relationship with the opposing party.
Your lawyer wants to charge you using billable hours rather than the contingency fee arrangement that most personal injury lawyers use.

There are hundreds if not thousands of ways that a conflict of interest can arise,

Your Lawyer Has a Bad Reputation Among Clients or Peers

Check your lawyer’s reputation on the internet and at sites like Avvo.com and Martindale-Hubbell. Ask around about them and if you have the social connections to do so. It’s best to do this before you hire the lawyer–but hey, better late than never!

A Trusted Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help You

An experienced personal injury attorney can make all the difference in the success of your claim. Switching lawyers isn’t something that you should take lightly, but it might be in your best interest. If one of the above signs applies to your situation, making a move could be the right choice.

How To File a Personal Injury Claim After a Car Accident in Oregon

If you were involved in a car accident that wasn’t your fault, you may have the right to compensation for your medical expenses, lost wages, car repairs, and pain and suffering. Because Oregon is an at-fault accident for car accidents, the party found at fault for the accident is responsible for paying for the accident victim’s damages.

To get this compensation, it may be necessary to file a personal injury claim. This process may involve the following steps:

Reporting the Accident

Any time you are involved in a car accident, you should immediately report it. A police officer can respond to the scene of the crash, take your statement and the other driver’s statement, and investigate the crash. They record this information on a report, which the insurance company will likely request when you make your claim.

Oregon law requires you to report any crash to the DMV if you are involved in an accident resulting in property damage of $2,500 or more, injury, or death, even if law enforcement completed a report. You must complete a written report within 72 hours of any such accident.

Seeking Medical Attention

If you notice injuries at the time of the accident, you should request an ambulance. But even if you don’t immediately notice injuries, you may have still been injured but your symptoms may be delayed. Seek medical attention promptly after an accident. Keep all of your medical records and bills to link the accident and your injuries.

Notifying the Insurance Company

You will need to notify the at-fault party’s liability insurance provider to get the claims process started. It is important to tread lightly with this process because insurance companies want to minimize their own liability. They may try to ask you to give a recorded statement, sign medical release forms, or take other actions that could harm your case. Refuse to do so.

You may also be required by the terms of your insurance contract to notify your own insurance company after an accident.

Negotiating for Compensation

You may have suffered considerable losses in the accident for which you deserve compensation, such as:

Emergency medical treatment, including ambulance rides, emergency room treatment, hospital stays, and diagnostic testing
Ongoing medical expenses and future anticipated medical expenses
Lost wages
Reduced earning capacity
Costs to repair or replace your vehicle
Out-of-pocket expenses
Disabilities and impairments
Pain and suffering

You inform the insurance company of the extent of their damages and demand that they fairly pay you for them.

Filing a Lawsuit

If the insurance company denies your claim or refuses to make a fair settlement offer, you can file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver. You will need to file the paperwork, including a complaint and summons, pay the filing fee, and submit it to the clerk. You will be responsible for ensuring the defendant is properly served with the paperwork.

After the defendant is served with the papers, they will have 30 days to respond with an answer.

Discovery

The plaintiff and defendant have the right to make requests of the other party through the discovery process. This allows them to narrow the contested issues involved in the case, obtain evidence to use in the case, and prepare defenses to the other side’s arguments.

Trial

If the case has not settled or been dismissed, it proceeds to trial. Each party presents evidence and witnesses. A judge or jury issues a verdict at the end of the trial.

Contacting a Car Accident Lawyer for a Free Consultation

If you were injured in a car accident caused by someone else’s negligence, one of the first steps to take is to get a free consultation with an attorney. If you choose to hire them, they can handle your case from start to finish while you focus on your health.