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Being victim to malpractice is a truly terrifying experience. The botched treatment likely caused you injury, leading to a great deterioration in your physical health. In addition, there is likely a lot of pain and suffering associated with failed treatment, causing lots of mental damage as well. You deserve to be compensated for all that you had to go through, and the medical professionals that put you through this situation should be punished. That being said, filing a malpractice suit and facing a provider’s army of lawyers can be a daunting task. Many people don’t even know where to start and they shy away from the prospect, never being compensated for the damages they had to deal with. So how can you ensure that you receive the proper compensation? Here’s how to file a medical malpractice suit.
Find a Lawyer
The first thing you need to do when planning to file a medical malpractice suit is to find a lawyer. The provider you’ll be filing against will definitely have a lawyer, so you need one as well to level the playing field. A lawyer can help greatly in the filing process, proving invaluable to you along the way. Your initial consultation will clue you in on whether you have a strong case or not, letting you know if it’s a case worth pursuing. In addition, your lawyer can be a big help in the actual creation of the case, not to mention the negotiation and trial part.
Alert the Provider
After finding a lawyer and determining that your case is strong enough to proceed, you’ll need to contact the provider you’re filing against and let them know what’s going on. Your provider may attempt to remedy the situation right then by offering free services in order to avoid the suit. However if they don’t, or if the offer isn’t what you’re looking for, then you can instead request documents relating to your medical history that will be of great importance down the road. After this step, be prepared, as this is where things really heat up and the process that determines your compensation begins.
Build Your Case
Once you have your lawyer and the provider has been alerted of your intentions, it's time to start building your case. During this time, it's extremely important that you are completely honest with your lawyer about what happened. You should provide any relevant details that could be used in the case. In addition, you should also provide any physical evidence that you might have as well, including hospital records or documents. The more information and evidence you have, the stronger your case becomes, and the more likely it is that you win a settlement. For example, if you were mistreated after a motorcycle accident, having documentation about what types of treatment you received and how it was botched makes your case that much stronger. Out of all of the steps of the process, this is probably one of the most important, because if you don’t build a strong case you’ll never be able to win a settlement or trial.
Settle or Go to Court
Once everything in your case is built and you feel that it is rock solid, it’s time to take your case to court. There is a chance that the provider that you’re filing against will attempt to settle out of court. In fact, many malpractice cases actually settle outside of court. There are many advantages to settling out of court, as you’ll get guaranteed money and won’t have to worry about a legal decision determining your fate. However, settlements outside of court are usually much less than you would receive from a court decision. As a result, if you’re not entirely sure your case will win, then it may be best to settle out of court, but if you think your case is rock solid then going to court may be the best option for you.
