Hiring the right birth injury attorney is especially important as the process requires multiple experts, a good sum of money to retain those experts and to prosecute the case successfully. The right lawyer in these types of cases will be one who is very experienced in this area of the law.

One such lawyer

One such lawyer, who been practicing medical negligence and birth injury law for 26 years and member of the Advocate Law Group, is Jeff Milman of California. We asked him what consumers should look for in this type of case. According to Milman, “They should hire a lawyer who specializes in medical negligence and has the skill, knowledge and financial resources to do birth injury cases. Clients should ask some serious questions such as how many of these have you handled and what’s your track record?”

Too many people hire the wrong lawyer

It’s clear that the process of whether to file a lawsuit is very complex and the costs can be great. Having practiced in this area of law for over 25 years, we asked Milman if he’s seen other attorneys whose practices don’t focus in this area taking on these cases and not doing everything that they should. Unfortunately, he has. He told us:

This is not an area of law one should dabble in. This is not an area for someone who’s a general practitioner. This is a high specialty area and I’ve seen a myriad of times where the attorney handling the case gets in way too deep, runs out of money, has hired the wrong experts or doesn’t have experts at all. So definitely, if you are a consumer and you’re contemplating bringing one of these cases, make sure you find an attorney that is up to the challenge of handling this and ask them point blank, what percentage of their practice is medical negligence and whether they’ve handled birth injury cases.

How birth injury attorneys are compensated

Depending on the state, attorneys are usually compensated on a contingency fee basis which means that they don’t get paid until the plaintiffs get paid. Milman explained, “In California, the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, or MICRA, limits recovery to 25% for minors after expenses have been reimbursed. That percentage may change if you appeal a case, but it depends on the state. For example, some attorneys will write a contract that provides for a contingency fee of 25%, but will increase that to 33% if you go to trial. However, in medical negligence cases, the fees are strictly controlled by MICRA; so generally, it’s not going to change.”

Why sensitivity matters

Hiring an experienced attorney is gravely important, but finding one who is sensitive to what clients are going through can make all the difference in the world. Milman continued, “Parents don’t sign off to have a profoundly damaged child. It is a horrendous thing and even though you love your child, you are faced with one of the most serious types of injuries there are. It’s very emotional for the parents, for the child, for the brothers and sisters, for grandparents that may be around, and for family and friends. So if you feel there’s medical negligence, get the records and talk to a competent attorney who can assist you.”

If your child was profoundly injured or died as the result of medical negligence, contact an attorney whose practice focuses in this area of law for help. To contact an experienced attorney near you, please click here.