Professional malpractice comes in many forms…from medical malpractice, to accounting malpractice, to real estate agent malpractice, to legal malpractice, to insurance broker malpractice. Every profession can be the subject of a malpractice claim.
Proof of Malpractice
Proof of malpractice varies from one profession to the next, but generally speaking, malpractice must be proven by establishing that the defendant professional failed to meet the applicable “standard of care” for that profession; that is, failed to do what other reasonable and prudent professionals in the same field would have done. So proving a malpractice claim usually involves hiring one or more expert witnesses who are professionals in the same field as the defendant professional, to testify as to what a prudent professional would have done in the particular circumstance. This often requires an investment of $5,000 or more just to have the expert witness professional review the malpractice case. Most malpractice cases (except the most obvious) will be dismissed by courts if they are missing this type of evidence.
Malpractice Claims We Accept
We handle all types of professional malpractice claims. We are VERY choosy, however, about which malpractice claims we are willing to handle on a contingent fee basis, especially where we are expected to advance the cost of hiring the expert witness to review the malpractice case. Because most professions call for the exercise of discretion by the practitioner, most judgment calls made by a professional will not be considered malpractice, unless they stem from OBVIOUSLY poor judgment. The mere fact that the results of an operation were not as expected is generally not enough to prove malpractice…the human body is not a machine and the hidden parts are not always where they’re expected to be.
That being said, sometimes a professional’s poor judgment IS obvious when compared against the standard. If you believe you have such a case, call us. We will be more than happy to evaluate your malpractice claim.