Lawyer Turns Down Medical Malpractice Case
Today's topic is: What does it mean if an attorney turns down my medical malpractice case? What implications does that have for me going forward?
Here's the thing, a lot of attorneys, when they talk to you about their medical malpractice case, the first thing that they're going to ask you is, "have other attorneys looked at the case and rejected it? And did they tell you why?". Now, that's a popular thing to do for attorneys who aren't really looking very carefully at the case, and frankly younger attorneys. Now it is a question that I ask but, younger less experienced attorneys ask that question because if anyone turns your case down, they just assume that it's a problem case and that it can't be won.
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It Does Not Mean You Have A Bad Case
There's some severe problem with the case. I've often talked to a lot of people who a loved one or they have dealt with a medical malpractice injury or a doctor's mistake. And the answer of why their first attorney turned the case down didn't even make sense. The reason they say in their letter or verbally over the phone to the client, it shows me that the lawyer didn't even know the facts of the case or the medicine of the case. My point is, just because one attorney turns down your medical malpractice case, does not mean you have a bad case.
Ad Agencies
Unfortunately and increasingly, there are many lawyers screening cases. And there are also ad agencies that appear to be lawyers on the internet. You'll be on the internet, you'll do research, they're at the top of the search for whatever you typed in and it turns out they're just like an ad agency. You'll think "oh this is a cool website, they're giving me good information, these are the guys I want to hire". And then you call or you click and they're just sending you to some attorney or maybe their operator will talk to you and collect some information and then send it to some attorney. Their local attorney who is paying them to generate leads for them.
So you're not even talking to a lawyer. The person interviewing you may not even be taking down the information right or their knowledge is so minimal because they're not attorneys. They're screening your case the wrong way and rejecting your case because somebody gave them a flowchart. You're not actually getting a fair evaluation of your medical malpractice case.
Screening Medical Malpractice Case
You really need to be aware of that. The point is, some attorneys will screen medical malpractice cases and all they're looking for is the easiest of easy cases. And if your case presents any possibility of a fight, they don't want it. They tell you they're rejecting your case and then when you talk to other attorneys, you tell them that somebody rejected your case and that automatically prejudices them against your case, so beware of that.
Make Sure To Talk To An Actual Attorney
Make sure you talk to an actual attorney who's actually been practicing injury law and has some experience doing medical malpractice. Don't just call an agency or a paralegal or a clerk. You actually have to talk to an attorney who's been doing it for some.
You want to be careful about a young attorney trying to handle a medical malpractice case. I've been practicing law for almost 25 years, been around the block. I'm able to screen a case pretty quickly. I'll tell you what the challenges are, but if it's a case, I can definitely give you answers.
