The “Rules” Help Medical Malpractice Lawyers Win Complex Lawsuits

Virginia (VA) Medical Malpractice Lawyers
Offices in VA Beach, Hampton & Elizabeth City, NC 
 

As a Plaintiff’s personal injury lawyer practicing in Virginia (VA)and North Carolina (NC), I am always trying to continue my education in the best ways to win compensation for my clients who are hurt by mistakes made by doctors and hospitals. I recently shared with my law firm a great book to help the attorneys I work with get the maximum results for people injured by medical malpractice. The book is called Rules of the Road: A Plaintiff Lawyer’s Guide to Proving Liability, by top injury lawyers, Rick Freidman and Patrick Malone.

The “rules” provide a guide to attorneys who help injured people and those families whose loved ones have been killed by medical mistakes to simplify the cases involving complex surgical procedures so the jury can find for the injured person or wronged family rather than the insurance company.

A typical kind of medical malpractice case is a failure to diagnose case. One of the key rules of medicine is that “a doctor who is diagnosing a patient’s symptoms has a duty to rule out the most dangerous, treatable potential diseases first.” This rule of differential diagnosis is something that the defendant doctor and the insurance defense lawyers must agree with because it is basic medical school training. Then the plaintiff’s lawyer can establish that this rule was violated because the doctor mistakenly sent the patient home from the emergency room without ruling out the most catastrophic medical condition leading to the person’s death.

In some ways this may seem easy, but the point is to simplify and explain to the jury and judge why the doctor did not act reasonably under the circumstances to prevent the insurance lawyer from making this seem so complicated or confusing that the right result doesn’t happen in court. The power of this technique has been confirmed by the best trial lawyers in the U.S. as well as in Virginia (VA).

Medical malpractice cases will never be as simple to prove and win as automobile accident cases. However, the best personal injury lawyers representing families who have suffered as a result of medical or surgical errors are learning ways to increase the chances of forcing the medical malpractice insurance companies to pay for the harm done by their insured.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm is based in Virginia (VA), near the NE North Carolina (NC) border and handles car,truck,railroad, and medical negligence cases and more. Our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service. Lawyers licensed in: VA, NC, SC, WV, DC, KY.

How can you identify a top Virginia injury lawyer for your case? Look no further.

Our Virginia personal injury lawyers have been selected for many accolades.

Two of the VA injury attorneys with our firm, James Lewis and Rick Shapiro, have been named among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. Lewis and Shapiro have also selected for inclusion in the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009. Leiws and Shappiro, along with attorney John C. have been recognized as Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2010.

Ours was the first personal injury firm in Virginia invited to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms. Rick Shapiro was named as one of the Top 100 Injury Lawyers in Virginia by the National Trial Lawyers Association.

In October, 2000 our law firm and co-counsel obtained what was then the largest verdict in Virginia's history for an injured person. Our brain-damaged client received an initial award of $46 million that increased to $60 million with interest compounded while the defendant pursued a failed appeal, and was confidentially settled during the appeal.

 

Geographical Areas

Our lawyers handle personal injury cases throughout the eastern United States and work closely with lawyers in other states on signficant injury cases.

In Virginia, we are prepared to counsel and represent injury and wrongful death victims in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News, Suffolk, Richmond, Petersburg, Roanoke, Salem, Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Fredericksburg, Charlottesville, Ashland, Big Stone Gap and all of the Eastern Shore, including the towns of Accomack, Onancock, Chincoteauge, Wachapreague, Cape Charles, Bloxom, Eastville, Exmore, Greenbackville, Machipongo, Mappsville, Melfa, Nassawadox, Onley, Tangier, Temperanceville, Wachapreague and Wallops Island.

For clients in West Virginia (WV), we are happy to consider personal injury claims from residents of Bluefield, Beckley, Bridgeport, Charles Town, Charleston, Fairmont, Huntington, Lewisburg, Madison, Martinsburg, Morgantown, Moundsville, Parkersburg, Ripley, Sutton, Weirton, Wheeling and any other town or county.

Attorneys with Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton hold licenses to practice in VA, WV, North Carolina (NC), South Carolina (SC), Kentucky (KY), Florida (FL) and Washington, DC.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a Virginia injury law firm whose attorneys focus on personal injury and accident law and have extensive experience handling medical malpractice and doctor mistake cases. Please take a few moments to review our medical malpractice case results. We have offices in Virginia Beach and Hampton, VA, but we're ready to come to you anywhere in Virginia, including Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Newport News and Suffolk, VA, if you've been seriously hurt by the carelessness of a doctor, surgeon, nurse or pharmacist.

Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been recognized as among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. Also, Rick and Jim have been named Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2010. Fewer than 5 percent of lawyers are chosen for this professional honor.

Members of our VA personal injury law firm have also been selected by the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009. In addition, we were the first injury law firm in Virginia to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms. Our VA medical malpractice firm has the highest rating of AV from Martindale-Hubbell, a national lawyer ranking organization, which means we have a reputation for preeminent legal skill.

We offer free special reports on the Top 10 Tips from a Medical Malpractice Insider and the top five surgical errors you must know about. 

While not every injury case meets our criteria, we offer free initial confidential injury case consultation, so call us toll free at (800) 752-0042. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, please leave a voicemail so we can return your call.