How expensive is it to file a Medical Malpractice claim?

Inherent in any claim is the cost of bringing the action.  Who is going to pay is the question, cutting both ways, in every

The Barrister’s Dream (Photo credit: Bonnetmaker)

case.  Will the medical practitioner/institution pay its fair share for the pain, suffering and death it/they inflicted?  Will the plaintiff pay the cost of bringing suit in an environment where the odds are greatly stacked against her?  The real answer is too often on the latter.  The plaintiff, hurt, injured or dead (the survivors seeking justice) will, all too often, bear the costs of trying to obtain justice.

Please be advised that under Michigan’s ethical rules, all costs of litigation (copies, postage, deposition fees, expert fees) are the ultimate responsibility of the client, even under contingent fee arrangements.   All of our clients sign written detailed fee agreements (citation).

So, you walk into a Med Mal attorney‘s office, or are wheeled in or such, and immediately you are, gently it is hoped, brought up to realize a strict and brutalizing reality: if the stars do no align, you will be the one on the hook for the pleasure of the experience.

It is well thought, although incorrect, that the plaintiff attorney will bear the costs of bringing suit.  With that line of reasoning, the argument runs like this: since the costs of litigation are high, and the plaintiff’s attorney takes such cases on a contingency basis, then the plaintiff attorney will only take the “valid” or “non-frivolous” cases as the plaintiff attorney will be on the hook for all of the costs of bringing the case (copies, postage, deposition fees, expert fees).

That commonly held belief is incorrect.  Patients are victimized by their physicians and then by the judiciary.  Once bitten, twice bit.

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