malpractice suit

What is the name of your state? ok
Hi I am already talking to an attorney about my malpractice case, had a doc cut and clamp my hepatic artery wich led to a transplant. My question is the attorney said they sent a big check to an expert witness out of state, but still yet said they are not sure if they will take the case or not. they will know in 2 weeks.. why would they send a check to an expert witness if they were not going to take it. It is driving me nuts bc my statute of limitations is out in OCT.

The witness must be compensated for review of your case.

The statute of limitations runs out in Oct. that means that the lawsuit needs to be filed by then. It is not unusual for attorney's to wait until closer to that time to file so they can continue to build their case. If they are an experienced med-mal attorney, most likely they will draw from a pool of expert witnesses they already know. If they have taken this case on contingency, that usually means that they believe they have a good case, but it can take some skillful litigation if you are fighting a closeknit medical community or physicians of some reknown. The details of the surgery and it's risks will also be an issue. It is reasonable and customary for the attorney/client to pay for these services as they occur. The expert will review the record and report back to the attorney and then they will decide whether or not to move forward. It in not unusual to retain experts outside of the geographical area so there is less chance of conflict of interest between experts, so with you being in OK retaining an attorney fron KS or TX would not be unusual. I also responded on your other thread about step-parent adoption. https://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?t=316856 At this point your attorney is in the best place to evaluate the merits of your case and answer your questions. Are you having any problems with your attorney? Do you have a family law attorney handling the step-parent adoption?

The attorney that I am talking to is supposed to be the best around here, but I just get a little antsy because I dont understand why they would pay an expert witness if they have not already decided to take my case. I do get annoyed when I dont exactly know what is going on..I just need to know if they are taking it or not, because I have attorneys calling my house on a daily basis wanting my case. I do not want to run out of time. My transplant surgeon ( who I wouldnt even ask to testify) thinks it is very clear what happened. As far as getting an attorney to to do the step parent adoption we were in the process of it with a paralegal. We have put things on hold until now. I am now kicking myself and will probably just have an attorney do it.

chris549 said:

The attorney that I am talking to is supposed to be the best around here, but I just get a little antsy because I dont understand why they would pay an expert witness if they have not already decided to take my case. I do get annoyed when I dont exactly know what is going on..I just need to know if they are taking it or not, because I have attorneys calling my house on a daily basis wanting my case. I do not want to run out of time. My transplant surgeon ( who I wouldnt even ask to testify) thinks it is very clear what happened. As far as getting an attorney to to do the step parent adoption we were in the process of it with a paralegal. We have put things on hold until now. I am now kicking myself and will probably just have an attorney do it.

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Be patient, if you have attorneys calling you about the lawsuit, you have a case, it just takes itme for the experts to review the information and yours is not the only case. Get on the adoption asap before dad changes his mind.

Thanks alot!!

paying an expert witness

chris549 said:

The attorney that I am talking to is supposed to be the best around here, but I just get a little antsy because I dont understand why they would pay an expert witness if they have not already decided to take my case. I do get annoyed when I dont exactly know what is going on..I just need to know if they are taking it or not, because I have attorneys calling my house on a daily basis wanting my case. I do not want to run out of time. My transplant surgeon ( who I wouldnt even ask to testify) thinks it is very clear what happened. As far as getting an attorney to to do the step parent adoption we were in the process of it with a paralegal. We have put things on hold until now. I am now kicking myself and will probably just have an attorney do it.

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As with many things, there may be a difference of opinion about your case, but the case will be decided by the expert witness. And you can bet that the other side will have experts that will deny your claim.

So you are paying an expert for his opinion of the case, which involves his time to read the case and to make an assessment. You may also be paying for the expert to point out the flaws that are in the case, that will make it more difficult to deal with. Which might be equally important.

In a case that I was called into, as an expert, after the first law firm dropped the case, saying they couldn't find the health care provider at fault, I was able to help get a large settlement, because fault was found, it just was missed by both the defense and the prosecution.

So if I had been called by the defense to work with them, I may not have wanted to defend but my expertise may have helped them lessen the damages. But being called by the plaintiff, the case was made.

I'm sure that this is the situation.

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chris549 said:

What is the name of your state? Oklahoma
Hello, I have posted here before, but not sure how to pull up previous posts. Quick refresher, had surgery to remove benign tumor, doc cut and clamped my hepatic artery did not chart that he did it and the end result was a liver transplant. I do have an attorney who is taking on my case they called a few days ago and left a message saying that they were about to file the paperwork. I am concerned because they have not mentioned neglect from the physician nor have they mentioned that the surgeon cut my artery without charting it. The expert witness stated only that the surgeon should not have taken all of the tumor out ( scraping and cutting on major arteries and blood vessels) because it was benign.
My question is is this something that can be added into the lawsuit after they file this paperwork? The reason I am asking you is I have not been able to reach my atty yet. And a second opinion is always reassuring.

Also I have heard that my immediate family could sue as well is this correct?
Thanks

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You will have to ask your attorney, the information should be in your medical records, perhaps the expert was addressing the neglect, malpractice that resulted in the artery being nicked, in other words if the doctor didn't attempt to remove the entire toumor then the artery wouldn't have been nicked, then the wuestion would be did the doctor know that the toumor was benign? THere will be opportunity for questions and depositions etc along the way beyond the original complaint. Usually the complaint has some language to allow for future "proof".