Entries in the 'Legal Malpractice Settlements' Category ↓

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.

Doctors, nurses, technicians, dentists, therapists, and any other kind of medical professional offering healthcare services may make grievous errors resulting in serious personal injury or death. This behavior is known as medical malpractice. Medical malpractice means that a healthcare worker, provider, or facility has breached the duty to provide proper care and treatment to a patient. Common types of medical malpractice include:

• Birth injuries or trauma
• Failure to diagnose, treat, or monitor a condition
• Delay in diagnosis or misdiagnosis
• Medical negligence
• Surgical or anesthesia errors
• Prescription drug errors
• Misuse of medical devices
• Failure to obtain the informed consent of the patient

Do you think you have a claim?

Visit an attorney who specializes in Seattle medical malpractice law. Tell the lawyer exactly what happened to you, from your first visit to your doctor until the last. Many victims believe they surrender their rights to a malpractice claim if they sign a consent form. This is not necessarily so. Collect your medical records from all your doctors and hospitals. Take them with you on your visit to the attorney. Explain your situation.

• What were the conditions surrounding your illness or injury?
• What treatment did your doctor offer?
• What did your doctor tell you about your treatment?
• Did you follow your doctor’s instructions correctly? Then what happened?

Future issues resulting from medical malpractice can be…

Medical malpractice can affect your life for a very long time. Be sure you choose an attorney with the knowledge and trial experience you need. Johnson Flora Law Firm in Seattle, WA, 206.388.2456, can help. A good attorney can review your case and possibly win reparations for your losses, including:

• Pain and suffering
• Job loss
• Lost wages
• Loss of earning capability
• Permanent disability
• Medical expenses
• Future medical expenses

Do you think you have been the victim of medical malpractice? Did you have surgery that resulted in serious health complications? Did a medical treatment backfire? If you have questions of any kind concerning your health status or that of a loved one, you should get a second medical opinion and consult a medical malpractice attorney for guidance. The Johnson Flora legal counsel members offer these suggestions to help you understand what to expect if you want to file a medical malpractice lawsuit in Seattle.

• Seek another medical opinion. Collect medical documentation.
• Meet with an attorney with a strong medical background, in-depth trial court experience, character and trust. Ask for references, win/loss data, settlement statistics, contingency fee options.
• Establish negligence.
  • A duty is owed. The hospital or healthcare provider has a legal duty to provide correct care.
  • A duty is breached. The provider did not meet the usual standard of care.
  • The breach causes an injury. The healthcare provider, as the proximate cause of the injury or illness, breaches its duty.
  • Damages occur. If there are no damages, there is no claim.
• File a civil suit within the correct jurisdiction and observe the proper statute of limitations. Statutes of limitations vary within states between one and four years.
• Locate expert witnesses.
• Begin the discovery process.
  • Parties exchange interrogatories, requests for documents, and depositions.
• Consider pre-trial settlement if offered.
• Trial begins before either a judge or jury.
  • Plaintiff must prove all of the elements of negligence by a preponderance (51 percent) of the evidence.
• Verdicts, judgments of the court, appeals may follow.

Count on Johnson Flora

The Seattle medical malpractice litigation attorneys at Johnson Flora have decades of experience in handling cases against healthcare workers and providers. Filing a medical malpractice suit can be an arduous, complex, and exhausting process. Whether you are a potential client, or an attorney seeking a consultation, we will be happy to speak with you. Please call our office or use our contact form if we can help. Our phone number in Seattle is 206.386.5566.

Medical malpractice occurs when a medical provider deviates from the proper medical or surgical standards of care and that deviation results in injury to the plaintiff. A plaintiff must establish the defendant’s duty of care, a breach of that duty, causation and injury. The following are some examples for medical malpractice:

• Misdiagnosis
• Untimely diagnosis
• Error in surgical procedure
• Incorrect surgical procedure
• Unnecessary operation
• Failure to timely treat
• Failure to properly medicate
• Over dosage
• Under dosage and
• Failure to secure informed consent from a patient.

An action for medical malpractice claim can be brought by:

• The injured patient
• Any members of the patient’s family
• If necessary, a legal representative.

In a wrongful death action, a legal representative of the deceased, a surviving spouse of the deceased, or children or parents of the decedent may bring an action.

Medical malpractice cases require attorneys to have specialized expertise, not only in the practice of law, but also with respect to complex issues relating to medical terminology, treatment, and technology. The Seattle malpractice attorneys at Johnson Flora, PLLC have practiced extensively in medical malpractice law for the past several years and take pride in our track record of obtaining generous settlements and jury awards in medical malpractice cases.

$3,900,000 legal settlement against a lawyer that dismissed our client’s medical malpractice claim without her consent.

The client suffered a fractured spinal bone as a result of surgery and it went undiagnosed despite the severe pain the client was suffering. This caused serious permanent damage requiring follow-up surgeries and ongoing treatment. This client hired an attorney to represent them in the medical malpractice case against the Seattle healthcare providers and the attorney dismissed the claim just over one year after filing it without the consent of his client. During the time he represented the plaintiffs, the malpractice lawyer lacked the knowledge, skill and experience to competently represent them on their claim. He failed to conduct adequate discovery, failed to develop evidence and expert testimony, failed to resist a motion for summary judgment, failed to refer the case or associate experienced counsel and failed to accurately inform plaintiffs of his degree of experience in medical negligence cases so as to deny plaintiffs an informed decision as to their choice of counsel. This case settled for our client during the appeals process for $3,900,000.

The Seattle malpractice attorneys of Johnson Flora, PLLC have successfully represented medical malpractice victims for the past several years, routinely obtaining generous awards through settlement and jury verdicts. Contact our law firm to learn more about our experience with your type of injury or claim.