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How to Build a Medical Malpractice Case in Georgia

surgery mistake

Suppose you have been under the treatment of a doctor. You might have had surgery, you might have been treated for a long-time medical condition, or the doctor might have prescribed a new medication for you. In any event, there were complications during the surgery, the doctor made the wrong diagnosis, or the doctor failed to warn you of the risks of the new medication and one of them came about. You have been hurt, and you want to know whether you have any legal remedies. Atlanta area attorney A. Bryan Baer, of The Baer Law Firm, can help you evaluate whether you have a medical malpractice case and build a medical malpractice case for you.

Mr. Baer has been practicing law in Georgia for approximately seventeen years. His practice is one-half personal injury cases and one-half medical malpractice cases. Before going into private practice, Mr. Baer worked as an insurance defense lawyer, learning the ropes from the other side. Since then, Mr. Baer has been recognized as one of George’s Super Lawyers®, as a Rising Star℠ and then as a full-fledged member of the group. He is also a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum which means he has a verdict or settlement on behalf of a client for $1,000,000 or more.

To Build a Medical Malpractice Case in Georgia, We Begin with You

Medical malpractice cases are complex and depend very much on the facts of each case. Before going to see an attorney, you should assemble all the medical records you have. You can also request medical records from your doctor. You should keep a daily journal to record what is happening to you. To build a medical malpractice case, It is important to journal daily because we forget dates, times and details. If your injury is visible, you should take periodic photographs of the injured part of your body. Videotape when appropriate is helpful. With this evidence in hand, it is time to go see the lawyer.

Don’t Delay Consulting with a Lawyer

It takes time to build a medical malpractice case. You should not delay consulting with a medical malpractice lawyer. Georgia has strict deadlines about when a medical malpractice case can be filed. The statute of limitations for a medical malpractice case in Georgia is two years after the date of injury or death caused by medical malpractice. But sometimes people are injured and do not realize it right away. Under some circumstances there is a five-year statute of repose. It is not wise to gamble that your injury fits that statute. In fact, you should consult with an attorney as soon as possible. The lawyer will have a lot to do to build a medical malpractice case.

The Lawyer Needs an Affidavit from a Medical Expert

Once you have hired a medical malpractice lawyer, and the lawyer has reviewed your documents, the lawyer must evaluate whether what happened to you amounts to medical malpractice. The lawyer, although usually not also a doctor, will have extensive medical knowledge. But the lawyer will need an expert to determine whether the doctor committed malpractice and whether you were injured because of it. In fact, in order for a medical malpractice case to proceed, the lawyer must obtain an affidavit from a medical expert that establishes these things.

What Kind of Damages Can You Recover?

When an injured patient files a medical malpractice suit, the patient seeks monetary damages for several things. These things are grouped into three types of damages, which are economic damages, non-economic damages and, if the facts warrant them, punitive damages. The lawyer must build a medical malpractice case with these damages in mind.

Economic damages are for out-of-pocket expenses cause by the malpractice. They cover, for example, the cost and expense of medical treatment for the injury that the doctor caused. Non-economic damages include not only the physical pain and suffering the medical malpractice caused you, but also elements such as anxiety, humiliation, mental anguish, scarring, loss of companionship and loss of enjoyment. Finally, there are punitive damages. They are more difficult to obtain than the other two categories of damages because they must be proved by clear and convincing evidence. Also, there must have been egregious circumstances underlying the malpractice.

You Are the Source for the Evidence to Build a Medical Malpractice Case

Remember how you should gather together medical records, take photos and keep a journal? In fact, you are the source of much of the evidence to build a medical malpractice case. Of course, your medical malpractice lawyer will arrange for additional, technical evidence such as the medical expert’s affidavit, but your testimony about what happened to you and how it affected you will maximize your damages at trial or in settlement of your medical malpractice case.

Mr. Bryan Baer, founder of The Baer Law Firm, is an experienced medical malpractice lawyer. If you would like to consult with him about your case, at no charge, please use the Contact form or call 404.THEBAER (404.843.2237).

Why is it Important to Find a Competent Car Accident Lawyer After a Crash

Road accidents can be devastating in every countenance. Leaving alone the injuries, the financial burden from medical bills, property damage, and lost wages come along. One may definitely have a thought to hire a car accident lawyer to claim compensation from the appropriate insurance company or right away from the defendant’s pocket if decisive, but make sure you hire a competent car accident lawyer in order to tackle all unlikely ordinances and attain your rightful compensation. Here are the chances and causes that can have you settled with devalued compensation

  1. The Motive of the Insurance Companies

The insurance companies mostly try to find a loophole in your accident case and deny you the allowance you deserve by devaluing your loss. If you have experience in negotiating with the highly trained insurance adjusters, you may gain or else, it’s advised to seek an experienced attorney to represent you before the insurance company which will have a compelling impact. Your attorney will render the job of negotiating with the insurance adjuster, handling the details of your claim and assist you in preparing a clear statement carefully tailored to favor you.

A well experienced and competent attorney will be aware of all the tactics used by the insurance company and does everything of their knowledge to save you from an unfair settlement.

  1. Being left without Proving Liability for your injuries

One of the important parts of the car accident injury claim is to prove your stand of being a victim. The person proved to be a victim is the one who gets to own the compensation. This makes both parties attempting to shift the blame.

Only an accomplished car accident attorney can track the evidence and build an unbeatable argument. An attorney’s work includes rebuilding the accident scene, considering the medical experts to evaluate the seriousness of the injuries caused, accessing the accident report and interrogating the witnesses.

The Indiana Comparative Fault Act says that according to a modified negligence comparative system, the victim has to have less than “51% fault” in order to be compensated and also the total compensation amount will be trimmed in accordance with the fault ratio. The victim will be subjected to contributory negligence.

  1. Under actuating your Injury’s True Value

Your compensation is directly proportional to the value of your injuries. Insurance companies target convincing injury victims at stunted settlement offers and escape from paying the real value for your claim.

An efficient car accident attorney will recognize the true value of your injury and will work to the full extent to ensure you with the settlement that covers all of your losses which may include the medical bills, pain, and suffering, disability, disfigurement, permanent impairment, lost wages, property damage, etc

  1. Ignorance of the Laws and Regulations that apply to your Claim 

Dealing with insurance policies can be tricky sometimes. A well-versed attorney can decipher these documents and ensure if the insurance company is operating in good faith and abiding by the needs of the contract. If this is not the case, an attorney can lay out the legal options to you which will aid you to receive the compensation you deserve. In addition, there exist many laws and regulations that are applicable to your case, and only a competent attorney can put it into action and win it over to your advantage.

  1. Lacking sound knowledge of the legalities in the case

An important benefit of hiring a car accident lawyer to handle your claim is that they can advise you of all of your legal options. If the insurance company is unwilling to offer a reasonable settlement amount, an attorney should be equipped to file a personal injury lawsuit to aid you to get the compensation you deserve. This step is often the action that makes the insurance adjuster offer a fair settlement, even before the case goes to court. However, a powerful attorney should always be braced to take a case to court if it is in the best interest of the client.

  1. The Skill to Negotiate a Fair Settlement

Insurance adjusters invest their days negotiating insurance settlements. They are proficient negotiators who fight to win for their best interests. A forceful attorney regularly negotiates with insurance companies and other attorneys. Before beginning a negotiation with an insurance adjuster, have a trusted car accident attorney on your side who has hands-on experience doing just that on a regular basis. A potent attorney should negotiate fair settlements for the client to help them obtain the compensation they deserve.

So, an indispensable duty of a car accident victim will be to partner up with a competent Car Accident Attorney Fort Wayne to draw the desirable compensation against the listed odds.

How To Have An Agreed Divorce in Chicago, Illinois

Divorce is awful in so many ways. It’s the end of a relationship and an unwinding process that is usually marked with animosity and hostility. What’s more, divorce is often expensive and tedious. As much as people want to actually to get a divorce they specifically want a fast and cheap divorce. So, how do you get a fast and cheap divorce in Chicago, Illinois?  You get a fast and cheap divorce by getting that divorce by agreement.

Children are rightfully the most important and sensitive topic in any divorce.  If you and your spouse have children in Chicago, Illinois you must complete, sign and enter an allocation of parenting time and parental responsibility. By initially preparing, circulating and coming to an agreement on your parenting time and parenting responsibilities, you can, hopefully, eliminate 80% of the actual, meaningful disagreements between your spouse and yourself. The financial issues can wait.

You’ll find that most parenting issues are actually logistical matters regarding who picks up the child when and where. The actual division of time hinges more on availability than it does on desire of either parent.

Preparing a detailed allocation of parenting time and parenting responsibilities is not necessary. Tendering a series of agreed bullet points is usually sufficient for an attorney to quickly input your information into a template and create an allocation of parenting time and parenting responsibilities that a court can enter and you and your former spouse can be governed by.

Failure to come to a complete agreement on these parenting issues in a divorce means that the issues will have to be resolved by a judge. That judge will make rulings based on their limited knowledge of your life as conveyed by your attorney and your spouse’s attorney. The judge will then weigh that evidence under the standard “the best interests of the child”. Truthfully, the judge will take most of their evidence from a third attorney who represents the children and is called a guardian ad litem. This third attorneys’ fees will be paid the two divorcing parties.

So, not only is an agreed divorce liable to provide better and more practical results but an agreed divorce will be unfathomably more affordable than a contested divorce.

Financial issues can also be resolved by agreement relatively easily. All assets earned and saved during the marriage will be divided equally between the two parties. These assets are referred to under Illinois law as “marital assets”

The same rule applies for debts. Debts incurred during the marriage will leave both parties equally responsible for those debts.

In an agreed divorce, marital assets are divided between the parties not by a clean fifty fifty split but rather by practical concerns that prevent liquidation of assets. For example, one party may keep the house and debts while the other party keeps the retirement accounts and other equivalent values marital assets.

Maintenance, formerly called “alimony” in Illinois, is derived by a simple formula: thirty three percent of the large earner’s income less twenty five percent of the smaller earner’s income.  The smaller earner can never receive maintenance that would allow him or her to exceed 40% of the total income of both parties combined.

The length of maintenance in a divorce is determined by a statutory formula with an accelerating length with respect to the length of the marriage.

Child support in Chicago, Illinois is similarly determined by a complicated statutory formula.

When it comes to money in a divorce, the numbers simply are what they are and there’s very little negotiating much less fighting when resolving those issues.  Bringing those issues to a judge is usually silly unless you’re trying to determine if a debt or asset is marital or not.

When hiring a lawyer in Chicago, Illinois. Let them know that you want an agreed and amicable divorce and you’re not interested in exploring every possible opportunity to get more time with your children or more money from your spouse.  Your lawyer should listen to you and do his or her best to accommodate your goals.

The author, Russell Knight, is a Chicago divorce lawyer.

How to File a Workers’ Compensation Claim in California

xray broken arms work injury

A widespread, yet cynical piece of personal finance advice goes, “Don’t get sick.” The costs of medical treatment can be prohibitive, even for people who are gainfully employed and have employer-provided health insurance. Having to miss work because of an illness or injury is enough to upset the already precarious financial situation of millions of Americans. If your illness or injury is the result of your performance of your assigned job duties, though, you can file for workers’ compensation to cover the costs of treatment and, in some cases, lost income related to the incident. For example, falling off a ladder at work and breaking your arm counts as a work injury, and so does carpal tunnel syndrome resulting from your work sewing clothes in a garment factory. To get workers’ compensation benefits, though, you must follow the procedures of applying for workers’ compensation precisely.

Getting Documentation on Your Work Injury

If you are injured in an accident at work, make sure that the accident is documented. File an incident report at your workplace. If your injury requires treatment in the emergency room, make sure to tell the doctors and hospital staff that the cause of your injury was an accident at work.

Notify Your Employer of Your Diagnosis

Even if you do not go to the emergency room immediately after your injury, you should see a doctor as soon as possible and get an official diagnosis of your injury. You must report the injury to your employer within 30 days of the incident and request an application for workers’ compensation benefits. Likewise, if you receive a diagnosis of an illness caused by your work, anything from cancer resulting from occupational exposure to carcinogens to clinical anxiety resulting from workplace harassment, you must notify your employer of the diagnosis within 30 days of receiving it in order to be eligible for workers’ compensation.

File a DWC-1 Form

Your employer must file a DWC-1 form, of which you must complete the “employee” portion. If your employer does not give you the form, you can download it from the DWC website or call the DWC office to request it. You should hand deliver the form, with your portion completed, to your employer or send it to them by certified mail so that you have a record of when you sent it. Your employer must then fill out a portion of the form and file it with the Division of Workers’ Compensation. While you are waiting for a decision about workers’ compensation, continue the treatment recommended by your doctor. You have the right to ask for workers’ compensation to cover up to $10,000 of treatment received while you were waiting for a decision about your claim. If you do not receive a letter about the decision within 90 days, you can assume that your claim has been accepted.

What’s Next?

If your claim is accepted, you can ask your doctor to send your medical bills to your employer instead of to you. If your claim is denied, file an Application for Adjudication of Claim form, and consult a workers’ compensation attorney to help you prepare for your hearing.

Hire a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

If you or family member was injured at work in Southern California, you can hire a qualified Los Angeles workers’ compensation lawyer to help with your claim. The California works’ compensation system can be a bureaucratic nightmare and highly stressful to deal with on your own, especially in the wake of a serious injury. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation regarding your matter with one of our listed attorneys.

Determining Fault After A Car Accident – Who Determines It How?

Accidents are inevitable, and can happen with almost anyone at any point of their lives. For someone who resides in Florida, they should be extra cautious and remain aware of the laws governing car accidents in Florida.

Car Accidents & Claiming Compensation in Florida

Remaining oblivious to the car accident laws in Florida will only result in potential damage to all the drivers involved, considering that Florida is consistently ranked as one of the states in the USA with a high number of car accidents. It was also ranked as number one in 2017 as per statistics issued by the World Atlas.

As far as claiming compensation is concerned, Florida is one of the 12 states which follow the “No-Fault” Insurance laws. This means that victims who have suffered any kind of damage have to seek compensation or file claims by their own means. In such circumstances, it is best to know how the ‘Fault’ will be determined by which concerned authority or entity in Florida.

What is The Procedure for Determining ‘Fault’ in Florida?

Fault is usually determined by these two entities in their own manner in Florida:

  1. The Police
  2. The Court

As per the ‘Florida Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law’, all Florida drivers have to maintain $10,000 insurance for the Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and $10,000 for Property Damage Liability (PDL). While you can claim insurance after the accident once your Insurer investigates the crash, you as the victim would prefer to prove the ‘Fault’ to prevent possibilities of your insurance premium increasing.

In order to prove ‘Fault’ of the other party in the accident, you must know how the Police and the Courts determine the ‘Fault’ according to their own procedures.

With the Police, the fault is determined in the following ways:

  1. Interviewing The Witnesses: The first step in the determination of fault is interviewing the witnesses. The witnesses that were present at the time of accident are questioned and all the information given by them is recorded for further investigation.
  1. Gathering Evidences: The accident side is sealed and is inspected to gather evidences. Every little piece found at the accident site is important. Lab samples like blood are taken to the forensic lab where evidences are further studied.
  1. Compilation of Report: The recorded witnesses’ interviews are transcribed into formal reports. Also the derived results from evidences are concluded. A formal report is made comprising the summary of the case that could be utilized for determining who was at fault.
  1. Insurance Filing and Investigation: The victim files for their compensation by the insurance company of the defendant. If the victim has already hired a lawyer, he calculates the amount of compensation by taking into account the damages he/she has faced. After the calculation, the defendant’s and victim’s lawyer can either decide for a settlement or continue with their case.
  1. Examination of Medical Records: Medical records are an important tools which are used for investigations by the police. The medical records consist of patient’s x-rays, blood tests, lab reports and any other investigation that could be used for determining who was at fault.

The medical records can also be used to measure the mental and physical damages to decide the amount, the victim deserves for compensation. 

  1. Victim Compensation: Once the police decides who was at fault by careful study of evidences and medical records and interviewing the witnesses, they can easily adjust the victim’s amount for compensation. The compensation are calculated by insurance company and lawyers by taking into account your medical bills, lost wages and other relevant factors.
  1. Deciding Fault Percentage: The defendant who was at fault is given a fault percentage according to which he has to provide the compensation for the victim. Also the fault percentage decides the charges that should be placed on the defendant.

The decision of Insurance Adjustors employs an important role in determine of Fault in matters of Police. As such, the victim has to provide all the accurate information to their Insurance Companies to avoid any kind of problems later on. In this case, an attorney can help you in getting the most out of it. An experienced attorney knows the in’s and out’s of the insurance adjustors so he can help you out in claiming for the higher value.

With the Courts, the fault is determined in the following ways:

  1. The court hears from both the parties and their lawyers
  2. Testimonies of everyone involved are documented
  3. All kinds of evidence is gathered
  4. The Court decides the case

As far as Courts are concerned, the decision of the Police or the Insurance Adjustors plays no role on the outcome decided by the Court.

How Medical Malpractice Settlements Work?

It is important to note that settlements, no matter of what type, can vary depending upon the particular laws that are implemented in that jurisdiction. However, while medical malpractice settlements usually work in the same way as a civil injury case, they can be much harder to obtain.

What are medical malpractice claims?

Medical malpractice is more common than you think. Health care professionals have a great responsibility and their slight carelessness can have a great negative impact on you or your loved one’s life.

However, the law allows you to claim for the losses you have faced and place a penalty on the doctor. But to qualify for a medical negligence lawsuit, it should under one of the following categories:

  • Diagnostic Errors: Problems arising from missed, delayed or wrong diagnosis.
  • Surgical Errors: Including wrong anesthesia dosage, not following proper sterilization protocols, puncturing an organ or leaving a foreign object in the body.
  • Laboratory Errors: leading to wrong results in the laboratory reports.
  • Wrong prescriptions: The wrong prescriptions can result in either wrong medication or wrong dosage for the treatment of ailments.
  • Fetal and Birth Issues: The wrong instrumentation and delivery problems can even result in mother or fetus death.
  • Dental Negligence: Can give rise to life threatening emergencies.

How Does The Medical Malpractice Settlement Works?

When you claim someone for a medical negligence, you have two options for compensation:

  • Either you can opt for a trail in the court and place charges on the defendant.
  • Or you and your lawyer can mutually decide for a settlement.

To make sure that your settlement works successfully, you need to hire an experienced lawyer who have prior experience with such cases and who knows how to settle for a fair amount.

The first step in settling a medical malpractice:

As is the case with any settlement, the first and foremost thing is the negotiation. The plaintiff, who is the person who sues or brings the case forward, must come to an agreed amount along with the defendants. The defendant’s insurer can also be involved in such scenarios.

Materialistic claims and things which can be calculated based on economic damage amounts are relatively easy to calculate as there is not much room to wiggle around and negotiate. These items usually have a set value, such as the amount of loss caused or provable expenditures.

The problem is with non-economic damages. These can include things like emotional trauma and damage, compensation for pain and suffering and loss of time and enjoyment. A plaintiff’s valuation for these is usually much higher than what a doctor or insurance company.

In these situations, state laws can come into effect which limits the amount which can be awarded to a plaintiff.

Can anyone just make a medical malpractice settlement claim?

Making a medical malpractice claim is not so easy. A doctor or settling physician must approve of the medical malpractice claim and settlement. This mechanism is in place to avoid fraudulent claims.

This is a complicated filed as some auto accidents, such as a slip or a fall, can be simply settled by the defendant’s insurance company. There are laws in effect which dictate who gets the final say in particular scenarios.

Doctors often have the authoritative say in whether a settlement should be approved or not. These types of claims are also very personal to doctors and many of them refuse to even look at a malpractice case.

Even if both parties come to a mutual agreement fairly quickly, the claim cannot just be settled right away. It must be approved by the court so that there are no fraudulent claims where both parties split the settlement money amongst themselves. So in order to avoid all such issues better choose an experienced attorney to represent you, who can help you out in all scenarios and make your claim easy and in a professional way.

How does one get paid if they win the settlement?

After reaching an agreement, a plaintiff has to be paid. How a plaintiff is paid is dictated by the laws of that particular jurisdiction. The plaintiff can be paid all at once, in a structured amount such as monthly payments or a combination of the two. This is dependent entirely on the laws of the particular jurisdiction. Some states prefer a one-time payment while others prefer structured payments.

Each medical malpractice claim is different and is therefore handled differently by the respective attorneys. If you or someone you know wants to file a medical malpractice claim, you can get help from attorneys such as those provided by Medical Malpractice attorneys in Miami.

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