5 Must-Know Birth Injury Lawyers Practices For 2023

How a Birth Injury Attorney Can Help Families Get the Compensation They Need

While advances in medicine make birthing safer than ever before, complications can still arise during and after the birth of an infant. If you believe your child suffered an unavoidable birth injury, contact an experienced birth injury attorney right away.

A firm specializing in birth injuries will typically pay for all litigation costs and only be compensated if they obtain settlement in your case.

Damages

While medical advances made childbirth more secure than it was before however, mothers and their babies are still at risk of danger of injury due number of reasons. Head trauma and oxygen deprivation are among the most common. These injuries can result in lasting and severe disabilities including cerebral palsy. A good birth injury attorney can assist families in obtaining the compensation they require to cover the cost of lifelong treatment and support.

Your lawyer will request all relevant medical records and reports related to your baby's injury. They will also hire medical experts to examine the evidence and give an opinion regarding whether the medical experts involved in the delivery of your baby violated the standard of medical care. In a typical case, an expert will assess the medical treatment provided by the defendant to the practices commonly accepted by other medical professionals who have similar experience and training.

Damages may be awarded for economic and non-economic losses. Economic damages cover expenses like future and current medical bills, lost income and property losses. Non-economic damages include emotional distress and pain and suffering. In rare instances punitive damages can also be awarded. These are designed to punish the at-fault party and deter similar behavior in the future. They differ from compensatory damages that are awarded to recover actual loss.

Medical Experts

While medical advances have made childbirth safer than ever before, there are still some risks for both the mother and baby. It is the responsibility of the nurses and doctors involved in the birth to behave in a professional manner, and to avoid mistakes which could result in devastating consequences for both baby and mother's health. Parents may be able to sue for damages if the doctors and nurses fail to act professionally during the delivery.

A birth injury attorney will work closely with you throughout the entire duration of your case, from the initial consultation through to the final resolution. They will gather evidence from you, Birth Injury Attorney such as witness testimonies and medical records and also get expert opinions from various sources, including other specialists and doctors.

They will look over the evidence and offer an official opinion on whether the injuries resulted from negligence on the part of a medical professional. This will be used by the lawyer to decide how to proceed.

If a medical professional agrees with you that malpractice occurred your lawyer will bring suit against the parties responsible. This typically consists of the obstetrician in charge of your pregnancy and delivery and any nurses or surgeons who assisted during the delivery and the hospital where the birth took.

Lawsuits can be expensive because of the many fees such as those for documents, expert witnesses and depositions. Your lawyer will pay these costs and pay you back once they have won an agreement on your behalf.

Prepare for trial

Generally, a birth injury lawyer will take on any case in which the infant was injured because of negligence by a doctor before or shortly after birth. The attorney will look at two factors when analyzing the case to determine if there evidence of medical negligence, and how serious the injury.

In most cases, attorneys consult with medical experts to determine if a medical error led to the injury. These experts will carefully review records from the pregnancy, the child's birth and the medical treatment given to the injuries later. They will also be in a position to assess the effect of the injuries sustained by the child on his or her future.

The experts will assist the lawyer in determining which medical professionals are to be named as defendants in the lawsuit. The lawyer will then send a letter the medical providers and their insurers asking them to reply to the claim. A good birth injury attorney will be able to negotiate with insurance companies and be ready to go to trial should it be necessary.

Parents could be entitled to damages for medical expenses resulting from the injuries suffered by their child. They may also be able to claim damages for pain and suffering. These damages can add up in the event that the child's injuries are serious. A good birth injury attorney can maximize the amount of compensation that is awarded to the parents.

Insurance Companies

Although a lawsuit for birth injuries cannot undo what happened to your child, it can cover future medical expenses and the cost of therapy, home modifications and on-going support. The costs could seem overwhelming at first but a skilled birth injury attorney will work with a variety of experts to estimate the financial impact of a specific injury on your family and how much you are entitled to be compensated for these costs.

In order to file a claim for birth injuries, you must first prove that your doctor and your child shared an official relationship and that they violated this relationship by failing to act properly prior to or during the time of your child's birth. It is easy to prove this by collecting your hospital bills and medical records.

Once this has been established the lawyer must identify the specific actions the doctor took that were negligent and how these affected your child's health. A birth injury attorney will know what to look for and where you can get the medical documentation and expert witness testimony needed to prove your case.

A good birth injury attorney will take care of all the complexities of your case and will not require you to pay out of your pocket to seek justice. They should be willing to work on a contingency basis, meaning that they only get paid if they win your case and the amount they earn is a percentage of the settlement or award you receive.