Legal Malpractice Settlements
When an attorney causes harm to his or her client due to mistakes caused by negligence, or when the attorney breaches his fiduciary duty to a client by sharing informa-tion outside of the relationship that causes harm or potential harm to the client, legal malpractice claims may arise.
Attorneys are one of only a handful of professionals who are held to high standards of performance within their job by laws and a comprehensive legal system. This framework helps to ensure that clients get the best advice available from their attorney and that attorneys are always acting in a client’s best interest.
Legal Malpractice can be difficult to prove. Simply not returning your telephone call is typically not grounds for a malpractice suit, but if the lack of returned phone call costs a client’s business millions or delayed an important activity, it could be argued that the lawyer was negligent and therefore open to claims of legal malpractice.
Attorneys must always be careful to keep their client’s interests at the forefront of their dealings. Missing deadlines that cause judgments to go against a client, or not providing a full range of legal options can be cause for legal malpractice.
When an attorney is sued for malpractice, outcomes can range from a “slap on the wrist†to disbarment from the legal profession. Topics of interest in this area are contained in this section of the website.
Negligence & Legal Malpractice
Legal malpractice is a broad term that encompasses various types of civil liability claims brought against lawyers for breaches of duties owed by lawyers to clients and occasionally to other persons that cause damages. Particular conduct by a lawyer may violate the professional standard of care, disciplinary rules, civil statutes, and even criminal statutes. Such conduct may result in money damages, fee forfeiture, disqualification, and loss of license.
Negligence
Lawyers impliedly represent to clients that they possess the requisite degree of skill, learning, and ability necessary to practice law and will exercise reasonable and ordinary care and diligence in applying their skill and knowledge in the representation of clients. Claims for negligence are by far the most common claims brought against lawyers. The traditional elements of any negligence claim are:
- the defendant owes the plaintiff a duty to exercise care;
- the defendant breaches that duty of care;
- the breach of duty proximately caused the plaintiff injury; and
- damages for such injury.
If you need a legal malpractice attorney make sure you research a respectable firm that has experience.
Schiff, Gorman, & Krkljes One East Wacker Drive 28th Floor Chicago, Illinois 60601
Medical Malpractice
Sustaining an injury at the hands of a health care professional can be a daunting experience. Most individuals never suspect that their lives are in danger when they visit a doctor. However, medical professionals are responsible for numerous avoidable injuries each year. If you believe you are the victim of medical malpractice, contact an Iowa personal injury lawyer as quickly as possible.
Below are some examples of medical malpractice:
- Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose: A misdiagnosis can cause unnecessary grief and stress for you and your family. Additionally, because certain illnesses require immediate action, a misdiagnosis can cause you serious injury.
- Medication errors: Being prescribed the wrong medication can cause injury or even death. Additionally, the wrong medication will not be treating the condition that you are seeking medical attention for. Seek the help of an Iowa personal injury attorney today if you suffer an injury as a result of a medication error.
- Birth defects: Unfortunately, medical errors can also occur during birth. A doctor may use forceps or vacuum extraction improperly. Additionally, he or she may also fail to acknowledge fetal distress.
- Surgical errors: Having surgery of any kind can be a nerve-wracking experience. Common surgical errors include operating on the wrong part of the body and leaving surgical instruments behind.
Nursing home abuse
When you make the decision to place a love one into a nursing home you expect that they will be treated with excellent care and respect. However, nurses and other medical staff may cause injury to patients through either neglect or direct abuse.
Following are some examples of nursing home abuse that include the failure to:
- Assist patients with personal hygiene
- Provide food and water or to keep patients hydrated
- Provide a clean habitat
- Provide a safe environment
- Provide supervision
- Provide adequate medical care
- Provide and dispense medications
- Prevent patients from developing pressure or bed sores
Learning that a loved one has been abused or neglected at a nursing home facility can cause immense grief and anger. However, a team of knowledgeable attorneys can help your family find justice and receive compensation. Contact the experienced the Iowa personal injury attorneys at the Eells & Tronvold Law Offices, PLC today for a free initial consultation.
Medical Malpractice as a result of Birth Injuries & Surgical Errors
Birth injuries
Medical malpractice surrounding the birth of a child may result in injuries to the mother, the infant, or both. Childbirth injuries can be caused by:
Aggressive legal professional, dedicated to providing help to those in need
- Failure to properly administer pre-natal care
- Failure to administer or properly respond to tests which may indicate abnormalities
- Failure to recognize signs of fetal distress
- Delaying or hastening childbirth
- Failure to provide proper care to premature infants
If you or your newborn has been hurt in childbirth, consider investigating whether the injury resulted from medical malpractice.
Surgical and anesthesia errors
Surgical and anesthesia errors can devastate the victims of medical malpractice. Patients have had wrong limbs amputated, have had completely unnecessary surgeries, and have only discovered foreign objects—like surgical scissors or sponges—left in their bodies months or years after surgery. Anesthesia errors can also kill or disable a patient.
If you have any lingering complication or disability as a result of a surgical procedure and suspect your doctor was negligent, consult a medical malpractice law firm in Memphis about your legal case.
How to determine if your Attorney is well-informed about Truck Accidents?
Protecting Your Interests
You want to make sure that the Memphis trucking accident lawyer you are considering to represent you displays a suitable level of knowledge about what is involved in a trucking accident lawsuit. Asking the following questions will help you determine this:
- Do you have access to various resources that will help you in your investigation into the accident? Can you recover maintenance records on the truck that caused the accident? If necessary, will you be able to examine the hiring practices and drug and alcohol policies of the company who employed the truck driver?
- Do you have access to skilled and respectable professionals in truck safety, transportation, and medical fields who could testify on your behalf as expert witnesses in court?
- Are you knowledgeable about the insurance industry and skilled at talking with insurance adjustors? If my case has a chance of reaching a settlement that delivers a fair compensation to me, will you be able to negotiate it with the insurance company?
Asking questions like these will help you evaluate the experience and knowledge of a Memphis trucking accident attorney to determine if he or she is fit to represent you.
