Davis Adams, LLC Only Handles Medical Malpractice Cases: Why That Matters
Our firm only handles medical malpractice cases. And that makes us different for some important reasons.
Many law firms advertise, online and elsewhere, that they handle medical malpractice cases. These firms generally fall into three categories. This short blog post will explain these groupings. We’ll also give you the questions to ask to ensure you’re finding the best lawyer for your case.
Category One: Advertising Firms that Refer Out All Cases
These lawyers say they handle medical malpractice cases, but they don’t. Instead, they refer cases to an experienced medical negligence lawyer in exchange for a portion of any fee earned (which is permitted, under certain circumstances, by the State Bar of Georgia).
This has always seemed a little dishonest to us. It’d be like our firm advertising that we handle divorces (we don’t), then sending the clients to a real divorce lawyer in exchange for some of that lawyer’s fee. How is that right?
If a firm doesn’t have the skill to handle specific cases, they shouldn’t say they do on their website. But it’s common, especially for medical malpractice.
Category Two: Firms That Dabble in Medical Malpractice
At least with cases that fall into category one, the client may ultimately be referred to a quality medical malpractice attorney. The fact that the fee is divided between two firms doesn’t change the client’s bottom line regarding their financial recovery. So, in some respects, the client suffers no harm. But it’s still dishonest.
However, this second category of lawyers is more dangerous. These lawyers try to handle medical malpractice cases but shouldn’t. Staying with the example above, that would be like our firm handling a big divorce case simply because we see the potential to earn a hefty fee. The problem: we don’t know how to do divorce cases and almost certainly wouldn’t provide quality representation. Even if we worked hard and tried our best, there’s just too much we don’t know about divorce law.
Do you know who’s good at divorce cases? Family lawyers who spend their time doing divorce cases. As with anything, you get good at a craft by doing it repeatedly, always learning and improving.
Sometimes, these firms will botch the case entirely. Other times, they might get the case settled, though probably for an amount less than a more skilled practitioner could have negotiated. Either way, the client’s one chance for the best possible outcome is gone.
How to Identify Firms in Categories One and Two
Avoid these firms; here’s how: ask a few simple questions:
What types of cases do you mainly handle? If the answer is anything other than, “We primarily handle medical malpractice cases,” you probably haven’t found the right lawyer.
What percentage of your cases are medical malpractice cases? You should keep looking unless the lawyer tells you that most of their cases involve medical negligence.
How many medical malpractice cases have you filed in the past year as lead counsel? Most good medical malpractice attorneys file several new cases a year. A lawyer who isn’t routinely filing medical negligence cases isn’t doing much medical negligence litigating.
Can you tell me about cases similar to mine that you’ve handled? Experienced medical malpractice lawyers have handled a wide variety of cases and should be able to discuss cases that are similar to yours.
How many seven and eight-figure recoveries have you obtained? Lawyers love to tell stories about their big wins, and a high-quality medical malpractice lawyer will have won numerous large cases and will enjoy the chance to tell you about them.
Category Three: Competent Medical Malpractice Firms
These lawyers are skilled medical malpractice litigators who successfully handle sizeable medical negligence cases. However, as their websites reveal, medical malpractice isn’t their sole focus — they also handle trucking and commercial vehicle accidents, premises liability cases, and other non-medical cases.
That is, they divide their time and attention between various case types. Medical malpractice is not their sole focus.
Why Davis Adams Only Handles Medical Malpractice Cases
We don’t claim to be better than all of these firms. However, we are sure that our commitment to only helping medical malpractice victims has real value and gives our clients an edge. Our laser-sharp focus on medical malpractice cases makes a difference.
If you believe you have a medical malpractice case you would like to pursue, reach out to us today to get started.
