In the 30 years our firm has been around, one of the most common questions we receive has to do with how to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. It’s complicated—by design—but we’re here to walk you through it.
At Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen, we specialize in numerous practice areas, including but not limited to medical malpractice, personal injury, and complex litigation. We’ve worked extensively on thousands of cases to fight for justice for our clients. We take pride in our work and in the process of a lawsuit because we know it’s an opportunity to help people that have been wronged or critically injured.
However, initiating a lawsuit can be a stressful and uncomfortable situation for victims, who are typically unsure of the next steps or how long their case will take to reach a conclusion. If you or a loved are in that position today, we hope to help you better understand the process of filing a medical malpractice lawsuit so you can seek the representation you rightfully deserve.
The first step in a medical malpractice lawsuit is to understand the signs of medical malpractice. Considering how common medical malpractice can be, it is easy for patients to be unaware of the harm caused by doctors.
The following are key indicators:
- Wrongdoing: A hospital or medical provider has a duty to follow a relevant standard of care when treating you. They have done something wrong when they fail to provide or deviate from that standard.
- Damages: Typically, a medical malpractice incident occurs when that hospital or medical provider’s wrongdoing results in damages. Examples of damages are physical damage, emotional distress, and mental damage.
- Responsible Party: Identifying the responsible party for your incident is essential to pursuing a viable medical malpractice case. It’s also important to determine whether that wrongdoer can provide recourse for the injustice you and your loved ones endured.
If you’ve determined that you are a victim of medical malpractice, the professionals at Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen are here to assist you. With more than three decades of medical malpractice experience, we are constantly prepared for any case that comes our way.
The Process
Your lawyer will conduct an investigation to determine where the medical negligence took place. That requires a gathering of all medical records, including hospital records, doctors’ records, visiting nurses’ records, and any other records pertinent to the case. (You can read more about that phase of a medical malpractice investigation.)
After the records have been gathered, your attorney will contact medical experts to review those records. These experts include heads of surgery or professors at teaching hospitals.
They will then be asked to consider whether the standard of care was breached and whether the medical negligence led to injury or death. Prior to testifying, the experts will be required to swear to their findings by signing an affidavit.
The affidavits are then sent to the respective defendants with a letter from you and your attorney stating the intention of the legal action.
That will begin a 90-day pre-lawsuit process, where the defendant can choose to either settle the lawsuit or to carry out the lawsuit. From there, your attorney creates a complaint stating the facts and legal reasons for the case.
This leads to the litigation process and eventually a trial, where your case can go in multiple directions that will each vary in length.
If you or a loved one have suffered from medical malpractice, Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen can help. We are passionate about making sure that our clients receive the best representation possible and the justice he/she deserves.
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