When you become injured by a hospital — the place where you least expect it to happen — the path to justice often involves a professional: lawyers that sue hospitals. They step in to hold healthcare institutions, such as hospitals, and medical professionals accountable for their mistakes and negligence.
What do lawyers that sue hospitals do?
Lawyers that sue hospitals assist clients who want to file a case against their hospital, including their doctors and staff, because of the claims of malpractice and negligence. This is why these lawyers are also called medical negligence or malpractice lawyers, since they mostly have similar duties to their clients.
The usual cases they handle are under the more general practice area of torts and personal injury cases. These cases are filed to recover compensation (called damages) because of hospital errors attributed to the hospital personnel’s acts or negligence. It may also be for injuries caused to their patients because of hospital’s policies and operations.
Below are some examples of claims under this practice area that may be filed against hospitals and their staff:
- breach of healthcare and medical standards
- cases enforcing a patient’s rights
- malpractice and negligence lawsuits
- misdiagnosis and wrongful prescriptions
- violation of statutes or professional regulations
Here’s an actual Alberta case filed in court for the alleged discrimination by the hospital and its staff against their patient:
These types of claims are just some of the examples for which a medical negligence lawyer can help with. If you’re looking for a lawyer to help you with your case, you can refer to our directory of the Lexpert-ranked best medical negligence lawyers in Canada.
How can lawyers that sue hospitals assist me with my case?
When suing your hospital for personal injury claims, a lawyer can help you from the start, such as during the case buildup, to finish, as when appealing your case to higher courts. With their honest legal advice and expertise on the matter, you’re assured that your case is pursued to the best of your interests.
Case buildup for negligence or malpractice claims
In helping you in build up your case against the hospital, a lawyer that sues hospitals will:
- evaluate your case to see if you have a valid claim against the hospital, based on the requisites of medical negligence and malpractice
- see if it’s proper to implead the hospital as an employer, or sue directly the employee (e.g., doctor or nurse)
Doing case buildups is one of the core strengths of lawyers that sue hospitals. Because they already have experience of what works effectively, they can ensure that your case is built on strong foundations.
Collection of evidence
Part of making sure that you’ll have your best shot in court, your lawyer can advise you on what should be prepared as part of your evidence. These pieces of evidence will substantiate the elements of making a claim for medical malpractice and negligence. Without these, your case will surely fall apart.
Your evidence may include:
- medical and prescription records
- testimonies of other medical professionals and expert witnesses
Applying relevant common law and statutes
One thing that your lawyer can definitely help with is explain what laws, statutes, and case law you should use to further your arguments before the court. This includes any regulations among the medical industry that will support your claims or to prove the negligent acts of your doctor and the hospital. Since common law on medical negligence is always evolving, your lawyer will know what precedents can make or break your case.
Proving their client’s case
After submitting your case in court, the next part would be the trial proper. At this point, your lawyer can:
- represent you before the court
- assist your witnesses (and even you, if you’re taking the witness stand)
- conduct cross examinations of the other party’s witnesses
- timely object to anything that may be prejudicial to your case
Your lawyer would have just one thing in mind: to pursue your case with zeal and to put forward your claims to the best of their ability.
Represent you in settlement negotiations
Most personal injury cases, such as those filed against doctors and hospitals, may not reach the court because of a compromise or settlement between the parties. Even if a case was already filed, it may still not be pursued still because of this compromise or settlement.
In these cases, your medical negligence lawyer can represent you especially during the negotiations. Here, your lawyer will:
- make sure that the settlement reached is fair and just for you, without any lowballing on what you truly deserve as compensation
- deny the settlement if it’s obviously unfair, or if the negotiations are one-sided or do not produce a meaningful settlement
Appealing unfavourable decisions
If the court renders a judgment against you, your lawyer can guide you on your next course of action. This may include appealing your case to the proper courts and rethinking your arguments before them.
How much is hiring a lawyer when suing a hospital?
Since there’s no fixed rate on how much you’ll have to pay your lawyer, it’s best to agree on terms of payment even at the initial engagement. While your first consultation may be charged separately, personal injury lawyers usually charge via contingency arrangements if they’re going to take your case. Since this is not true for all lawyers, it’s better to clear things out with them when it comes to costs right at the very start.
Where can I find lawyers that sue hospitals?
If you need a lawyer to help you prosecute your claims for medical negligence and malpractice, here are the tools which you can use:
- directory of best lawyers of Lexpert: our directory of the best lawyers can be filtered according to province or territory (e.g., best medical negligence lawyers in Ontario)
- Special Reports of Canadian Lawyer: our sister publication, Canadian Lawyer, publishes Special Reports that also highlights the best lawyers in their own field (e.g., Canada’s Best Personal Injury Law Firms)
Aside from a directory of the best lawyers in the field of medical negligence, we have a list of the Lexpert-ranked best Canadian law firms for medical negligence for you to check.