Parents take every possible precaution to ensure a smooth, easy, and painless delivery for the sake of the mother and the baby. But things don’t always go according to plan, and sometimes babies bear birth injuries. Mostly, birth injuries result due to negligence of a medical professional, be it a doctor, nurse, or other medical staff.
In case of a birth injury, the child may have to spend their life with a disability, and parents have to go through emotional turmoil and financial stress. If your child has suffered from a birth injury, you can hire a birth injury lawyer to claim financial compensation. A birth injury lawyer has expertise in such cases and can get you justice. When you are picking a birth injury lawyer, here are five things you should keep in mind.
- Specialization
The field of law is broad. Some cases are more complex than others; different cases require different ways of collecting information, conducting research, etc. One lawyer cannot normally tackle every type of case. Thus, in the case of birth injury, always hire a lawyer that specializes in birth injury lawsuits. An expert lawyer will have perfect knowledge of how to handle medical malpractice cases, as they are often too complex. Birth injury lawsuits are a subcategory of personal injury lawsuits.
For example, if your child is suffering from Erb’s palsy due to medical negligence, you must hire the best Erbs palsy lawyer in your area for your case. They will know their way around the case and help you win the case to receive financial compensation.
- Free Case Review
When you are trying to pick a birth injury lawyer, it’s best if you let the lawyer or the law firm review your case first. That way, both you and the lawyer will know where you stand with the case. But don’t go for a paid case review. Experienced lawyers and reputable law firms always offer free case reviews. An experienced lawyer will ask you to briefly describe your case and send it in for review. The lawyer will then review your potential claim and decide whether to move forward or not. After they have decided there are solid grounds for your case, they will schedule an appointment with you. In that appointment, they will need complete information about your case, like doctor’s notes, nurse’s notes, all medical records, etc.
Sometimes, when lawyers don’t feel a case is solid, they don’t even schedule an appointment and decline to take on the case. Hence, it makes no sense to charge the clients any fee for reviewing the case when there are chances the lawyer will not even take on the case.
- Working with Medical Professionals
A birth injury lawyer must know the medical procedures and protocols as they are going to prove that the medical professional breached the duty of care. Ask the attorney if they have contacts with medical professionals or if their firm has a team of medical professionals they work with. A lawyer’s knowledge of neonatal care, obstetrics, etc., is important for understanding your case and fighting for your rights. Moreover, with medical professionals on board like surgeons, doctors, nurses, etc., it becomes easy to understand and interpret the medical records of your child.
Experts from the medical field can help interpret complex medical information and terminologies. Along with helping outside the court, the medical professionals a lawyer has contacts with can be of great help inside the courtroom too. There might be a point in your case when a medical professional needs to tell the judges how the birth injury could have been avoided if specific care had been undertaken.
- Experience
Before picking a birth injury lawyer, make sure to check their work background and experience. Look for how many birth injury cases the lawyer has handled before. Out of those cases, how many got settled? How many went to trial? How many cases were they able to win? How much money the plaintiff had to spend overall with this lawyer? How much financial compensation did the plaintiff receive? Read more about Should I get a divorce quiz?
Moreover, it’s necessary to know the position and reputation that the lawyer has in their firm. Are they respected by their peers? How much time have they spent working with this firm? Do they have a leadership role in the firm? Also, learn about the way the lawyer performs in the courtroom, like how aggressive they are in the court, whether they have ever been disciplined, etc.
- Their Accessibility
As the parents of a child suffering from a birth injury and fighting for justice, you will already be stressed enough not to get informed about all development in your case and might get left in the dark. The last thing you will want to happen is your lawyer not being readily accessible and not notifying you about all minor and major developments in your case. When you are searching for a lawyer, never miss out on checking for their accessibility status. Your lawyer must be there all the time to guide you, inform you about your best course of action, etc. After filing the lawsuit, you will have new questions in your mind with every passing minute. When you are already going through so much, your lawyer must be available to promptly answer all your queries in detail.
While picking a birth injury lawyer, ask them if you will get to interact with them directly after filing the lawsuit and if they will be available and accessible frequently. A child’s birth injury case is a very sensitive matter, and you need to develop complete trust in your lawyer to move forward with the lawsuit. For that, prompt contact and easy access are necessary.
Conclusion
Many infants suffer from birth injuries due to medical malpractices. Such kids require extra medical attention and costly treatments. Parents can hire a birth injury lawyer and claim financial compensation in such cases. It’s critical that you pick the best birth injury lawyer for your case.
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