If you make a medical claim, you will certainly need a solicitor to help you with your case. Medical negligence can be hard to prove and so can require a lot of research, reparation and negotiation which appointing a specialist solicitor is essential. Read on for some more reasons why it’s so important to instruct an expert medical claim solicitor to run your claim.
Complicated medical issues need experienced solicitors
One of the main reasons you need a specialist medical negligence solicitor is that cases are often very complicated – largely because they often involve the need to understand specialised areas of medicine. Having an experienced solicitor on your side is so important – our medical claim team, for example, only run medical negligence cases – so you can rest assured that they understand the basic medical issues involved, so that they can explain them to you, appoint the right experts, ask the right questions and maximise your chance of being awarded a compensation you deserve.
One of the very first things that your solicitor will do, is to review the evidence in your case – to see whether you have a good claim. As there can sometimes be confusion over whether something is considered ‘negligence’ not, this is very important.
Proving medical negligence
If you intend to get involved in medical negligence litigation, you will need to prove that your doctor or other medical professional acted negligently in their treatment of you – in particular you will need to be able to establish the following:
• That they acted in a way that no competent doctor would have done
• That their actions are directly related to the personal injury you suffered as a result of their treatment
As the person making a medical negligence claim, the burden to prove this falls upon you, although your medical negligence solicitor will be able to support you throughout the process.
Commonly, when you first discuss your case with your solicitor, they will review all the evidence so far related to your case to see whether you might have a claim. If they believe that you do, based on what you tell them and on any other evidence you are able to provide, further action can be taken
Expert evidence
In most cases, the critical evidence in a medical negligence claim will come from an independent medical expert. If your solicitor thinks you might have a case based on what you have told them, they will identify a medical expert to assess your case, and hopefully to provide the evidence you need for your case to succeed. It’s so important that the right expert is chosen and our experienced solicitor know how to do this and who to appoint.
Your chosen medical specialist will need to be able to speak with authority on the issue at hand – so it’s important that they are with medical error claims -which proves very useful when they come to write their report on your claim, as well as if they are called to give evidence in person in court.
Law and the legal process
Another important reason to appoint a specialist medical negligence solicitor is that not only is the law surrounding medical negligence complex, but in addition your solicitor will need to follow the right procedure. For instance, your solicitor will need to decide which court your case will be heard in and make the application for this to happen within a certain time limit.
Your solicitor will then be required to keep to the relevant timescales and follow the proper court procedures to make sure your proceeds according to plan. This includes keeping the pressure on the defence to get them to respond, as well as requesting further information from the defence if necessary. The solicitor will also play an important role in determining how much compensation you should try to claim for, so they are definitely vital throughout the whole process.
Negotiating your Medical Claim Settlement
Once it’s been agreed between the parties that the defendant is responsible for your injuries – the case concentrate on setting the right level of compensation. Any good solicitor will always try to negotiate a settlement rather than rush off to court – it’s quicker, less stressful and keeps legal costs down. Our specialist medical solicitors will try to negotiate the settlement that is right for you – but if other side fail to make a reasonable offer, they will then advise you of your options in having the matter dealt with by the court in a final contested hearing.
Expert support
Finally, making a medical negligence claim, whether it is against the NHS or a privately funded medical professional, can be a daunting and drawn out process. It can take years rather than months. This process is often made even harder by the trauma you have experienced as a result of the negligence, especially if you are still suffering from the long term effects of a medical procedure going wrong.
Having our experienced, supportive solicitors on your side will help you get through the process and give your claim the best possible chance of succeeding. Getting the right legal advice at an early stage absolutely essential if you are contemplating making such a medical negligence claim.
Need a Medical Claim Solicitor – call us today
There are strict time limits for all medical claims. If you delaying making your claim, you could you lose out on your right for the compensation you deserve.
For FREE advice and a FREE first interview from a Specialist Medical Claim Solicitor;
- Call us on FREEPHONE 0800 1404544
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