Less than four percent of Florida’s lawyers represent clients in malpractice suits. Of the 93,712 attorneys in 23,727 law firms lists as practicing within the state of Florida, only 3,442 lawyers in 1,859 law firms represent clients in malpractice litigation. The availability of Florida malpractice attorneys depends in part on the nature of your legal matter. Florida law offices offer 940 million dollar advocates and 300 multi-million dollar advocates for select clients. Malpractice suits require an extensive commitment of a lawyer’s time and money. The opponent’s insurance claims’ adjuster and attorneys will fight to preserve his or her professional license and reputation.
What is Malpractice?
Malpractice is failure to provide adequate legal representation or accounting services, or substandard care by a doctor, surgeon, physical therapist or other medical professional which causes harm to the client or patient. This negligence may be due to misrepresentation of qualifications, lack of skill, failure to use due diligence, or intentional wrongdoing.
Multi-Million Dollar Cases
In the 2014 medical malpractice case of the Estate of Darian Wisekal v. Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings and Glenda C. Mixon, the laboratory technician labeled a pap smear negative for cervical cancer by mistake. Within three years, Darian Wisekal died of cervical cancer leaving her husband and two young children without a mother. The jury decided for the Wisekal family awarding $20,870,200 to the estate, but they decided contributory negligence on the part of Darian Wisekal reduced the judgment for the plaintiff to $15,652,650.
Medical Malpractice
U.S. News Best Law Firms lists 612 law firms in Florida which routinely participate in or bring medical malpractice cases. Medical malpractice cases are difficult to win depending on the nature of the malpractice. Malpractice attorneys take cases they think they can win. If you received a defective hip joint or suffered unexpected side effects of a medication, for example, you are not alone. Under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005,the judge usually consolidates such cases into a larger class action suit which becomes a federal lawsuit. Such federal large class-action lawsuits usually pay in excess of $5 million, but you will be only one defendant. If you are not alone with your medical malpractice claim, all you need to do is join an existing legal action. These cases take years to settle.
Class Action Suits
Florida class-action attorneys review clients claims of defective medical devices and dangerous pharmaceuticals to determine if the case could be made a class action lawsuit. It takes time for attorneys who communicate with each other to determine if a group of clients have suffered injuries, the same injuries, or if the injuries can definitely be attributed to the product, to the doctor, to the nursing home, or to the pharmaceutical company. Nest, the attorney files a motion to have the class certified and advertises for more plaintiffs. Class action suits are always in the hands of the jury, and they always take years to resolve through settlement or jury trial.
Nursing Home Malpractice
You probably do not need a lawyer to win a nursing home malpractice case or a case of abuse against a senior relative in Florida because elder law is enforced by specialized probate officers of the county where the abuse occurred. Breach of duty to a senior in a nursing home is not just physical abuse or negligence. Elder abuse takes many forms including:
• Misuse of funds
• Stealing Estate funds
• Overpaying at the expense of heirs
• Failure to maintain required accounts
• Failure to notify beneficiaries
If you or a loved one suffered abuse by a caregiver, you need a probate or an estate attorney to modify existing agreements, create trusts, establish guardianships, or administer an estate rather than a malpractice lawyer. It can be difficult to identify the guilty party if nurses, doctors, and nursing homes or hospitals are defendants.
Legal Malpractice
You turn to an attorney you trust when matters are beyond your comprehension or impossible for you to resolve to your satisfaction. You turn to attorney’s when you have problems you can’t solve. Losing your case is not justification for suing your attorney for malpractice, but errors made by a judge or attorney form grounds for appealing a judge’s decision. Rare complaints to the ethics committees of Florida’s bar associations result in disciplinary action against lawyers. If you really do have a strong malpractice cause of action against your lawyer, 19 top rated legal malpractice Super Lawyers in Miami have earned recognition for outstanding accomplishment in their fields who have brought malpractice cases against attorneys.
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