How to Choose the Best Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Choosing the best medical malpractice lawyer to pursue a lawsuit is crucial. Often, medical malpractice lawsuits are very complicated. Doctors may be represented by aggressive defense attorneys who have been told to fight tooth and nail for a dismissal. Medical malpractice may involve failures to diagnose, birth injuries, surgical errors, failures to treat, or errors in medication. It is important to find a Syracuse medical malpractice lawyer who has experience in the type of claim that you are pursuing. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano, we have accumulated decades of experience and have secured many medical malpractice verdicts in the millions of dollars.

Medical malpractice is a very specialized and complicated area of law, so a plaintiff likely will benefit from retaining a skillful attorney who understands the potential pitfalls that may arise. For example, there are many unique procedures that must be followed in medical malpractice lawsuits.

When you are looking for the best medical malpractice attorney, it is important to explore the backgrounds of the attorneys whom you are considering. You should prioritize attorneys with substantial experience in medical malpractice cases. The best attorneys would most likely have experience in handling a medical malpractice case similar to yours. They should also be familiar with the generally accepted medical standards and have medical experts readily available to them to review your case.

A lawyer's website should include information about their education and work experience. They may specify the types of medical malpractice lawsuits with which they have experience. They may post news items about successful medical malpractice settlements or trials with which they have been involved, and they may list representative cases that they have won, including the size of the settlement or verdict.

In addition to looking for specific medical malpractice experience, you should look at an attorney’s professional associations and memberships. Experienced trial attorneys may have been named to SuperLawyers or may have been highly rated by Martindale-Hubbell. It is wise to choose a lawyer who is a member of personal injury or medical malpractice professional associations. In New York, they might belong to the New York State Trial Lawyers or the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers. They may also have a record of success if they belong to the prestigious Million Dollar Advocates Forum or the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum.

Once you have compiled a group of potential attorneys, you may wish to research that group a little further. You may wish to call a local bar association to see whether the attorneys whom you have picked out are on the list.

Not every medical error constitutes medical malpractice. Your attorney will need to prove that it is more likely than not that you were owed a professional duty of care by the doctor, there was a breach of the professional duty of care, and this caused your injuries. In New York State, it is necessary to retain a credible expert to testify on each of these issues.

Sometimes medical malpractice lawsuits are battles of medical experts. Your attorney may choose an expert who believes that your doctor's failure to diagnose you with breast cancer, for example, caused your cancer to progress to a point at which it can no longer be treated, and this failure fell below the professional standard of care for the medical community. However, your doctor's expert may argue that a prudent health care provider in the same specialty would have acted in the same way, and there is a different professional standard of care under the circumstances. Because medical experts play a vital role in the potential success of your case, it is extremely important to choose an attorney who has access to experienced and board certified doctors to review and assist in pursuing your medical malpractice case.

DeFrancisco & Falgiatano has an extensive history in providing skillful legal representation to patients harmed by medical malpractice in Syracuse and Rochester. We also hold accountable health care providers practicing in communities all throughout Upstate, New York such as Elmira, Auburn, Binghamton, Ithaca, Norwich, Herkimer, Delhi, Oneida, Lowville, Watertown, Oswego, Utica, Wampsville, Canandaigua, Lyons, and Cooperstown. Call us at 833-200-2000 or contact us via our online form to set up a free consultation.