In particular, you may find it rewarding to become a medical malpractice lawyer. Thus, it is important to find out what their duties are and the education that is necessary to take on this role first.
What is a Medical Malpractice Lawyer?
A medical malpractice lawyer or attorney has the role of representing clients who believe they have been subject to professional misconduct from a medical practitioner. A client can be a patient or a family member that is representing their deceased loved one. Therefore, you are a lawyer that specializes in medical malpractice and you will only deal with these types of cases.
The phrase ‘medical malpractice’ is just another way to describe professional misconduct from a medical practitioner, such as a doctor or surgeon. This is going to be an action that involves negligence in the medical field. For example, this could be a mistake that happens during surgery or a medical misdiagnosis that a professional should not have made. It can vary from the failure to gather consent to a birth trauma. Medical malpractice can be conducted by the following professionals:
- Doctors
- Surgeons
- Nurses
- Dentists
- Technicians
- Therapists
- Others working as healthcare providers
It is common for a medical malpractice lawyer to specialize in a certain type of medical malpractice. For example, this can include the following:
- Abuse in nursing homes
- Dental malpractice
- Injury during birth
- Surgery negligence
What Can I Expect When I Work as a Medical Malpractice Lawyer?
When you are a medical malpractice lawyer, you can expect to have a busy and demanding day. Essentially, you are going to enjoy the same type of tasks as a civil litigator. This means that you will take on cases where there has been a legal disagreement between two parties. Namely, there will be no criminal charges between them. Of course, your work will involve a disagreement regarding medical care.
In particular, a medical malpractice attorney is going to work a lot with medical experts. This is going to be essential to advance case theories and to conduct reports. In addition, you will have to analyze medical records and start an independent medical examination (IME). To help you with your daily duties, you may work with a legal nurse consultant.
What Salary Can I Expect?
One of the most popular questions that law students have about a medical malpractice lawyer is; how much do they earn per year? The average salary you can expect for being a lawyer is $123,000. For a medical malpractice lawyer, this may vary slightly depend on your area of specialization, experience and educational level and the number of cases that you take on. Indeed, there are other factors that are going to affect your salary. This can include the state you live in, whether you are working in a rural or metropolitan area and the law firm you are working for.
Often a medical malpractice lawyer will charge on a contingency fee basis. In other words, the client will only be charged for the legal services if they get a beneficial outcome and win the case. This can also be referred to as a no win no fee service and it is common in the world of personal injury. Indeed, it is what often makes legal services more affordable to the local community. As a contingency fee lawyer, you would be able to take a percentage of the money you recover for the client. This can be money you earn on top of your salary. While there are 30 states in the US that cap the amount of damages that a client can be awarded, this is still money you can earn.
What Education Do I Need to Become a Medical Malpractice Lawyer?
In order to become a medical malpractice lawyer, you will have to work very hard and complete years of education. It can be difficult and this means that you have to be committed and know that this is the field you want to enter. But it should be noted that a medical malpractice lawyer does not require more education than any other lawyer. Indeed, the requirements will be the same. This means completing seven years of college education.
When you are in law school, it is possible for you to select a specialization. In other words, it is going to be best to specialize in something that you will need if you want to become a medical malpractice lawyer. For example, civil litigation can be very important.
The next step after law school is going to be taking the bar exam. This can take many months to study and what you need to pass and qualify as a lawyer can vary from state to state. Thus, know where you want to practice first. In addition, at the same time, you will want to seek out internships with medical malpractice lawyers. This is going to be beneficial for your resume when you start job hunting.
Another qualification you can gain to stand out from the crowd is board certification from a certifying organization. For example, this could be the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys or ABPLA. This can take a lot of hard work and dedication. You will need to look into the requirements for this as it can be difficult. You may need a certain level of experience, a number of legal references and other education before this can happen. For example, there are lawyers that need to sit a written examination and pass this test. This can be in legal or medical professional liability.
What Skills Do I Need to be a Medical Malpractice Lawyer?
There are going to be a lot of skills you need to be a successful medical malpractice lawyer. Let’s take a look at some of them.
Time Management
You are going to be working long hours and have a lot of cases to deal with as a medical malpractice lawyer. Thus, good time management is going to be the key to success. This means you need to know how to stay organized and how to plan your day. You will have to prioritize some tasks over others and work hard to complete them and stay on track.
Verbal Communication Skills
If you want to become a medical malpractice lawyer, you are going to have to stand up in court in front of everybody. In other words, you need to be confident and be able to argue your case for your client. This is not a legal job where you can do the work in the background and leave all of the important stuff to somebody else. You are going to be in the center of it all and have to be confident enough to take on the role of a lawyer in court.
Research Skills
You are going to have to do a lot of preparation for cases. This is going to include a lot of research. From reading legal journals and cases, you will have to analyze and make notes in order to help your clients. Thus, research skills are going to be imperative for your role as a medical malpractice lawyer.
Ability to Work Under Stress
Being a medical malpractice attorney is a demanding job. You will have a large caseload and you will be in charge. You will have to be able to deal with the stress and pressure of working in this type of fast-paced environment. If you think that the daily demands you will have as a lawyer are going to have a negative impact on your mental health then this will not be the role for you.
