Medical Negligence Lawyers

Sadly, this is not a polar question. The answer which can be either yes or no depends on several factors. A doctor might not always be at fault during a medical negligence case, so everyone like the hospital, medical equipment manufacturer, pharmacist, ambulance driver has to be considered. Which is why you would require an expert medical negligence lawyer who can provide legal advice, carefully reflect on the facts, research and gather evidence such as medical records, etc. Based on this, you can find out who is responsible and with the help of the medical negligence lawyer, you can build a case for a compensation claim. But a lawsuit against a doctor damages the reputation of the hospital. Therefore, a hospital will hire a team of lawyers to deny your claim or offer the lowest amount possible as compensation. Hence, without a lawyer, it will be very tough to succeed at a medical negligence lawsuit.

As you can see a medical negligence lawyer is essential if you wish to file a lawsuit and become entitled to compensation. If you are in Australia and are looking for a good medical negligence lawyer then look no further than Schreuders. Schreuders is an Australian law firm where you can hire compensation lawyers to help you get the compensation you deserve. At Schreuders we put our clients first, we handle each case personally with professionalism, care and empathy.

You can visit our website to get in touch with our team to take a free assessment. You will be guided by our expert compensation lawyers to complete the assessment. We have a diverse team that is well versed in 10 languages like Arabic, Hindi, Punjabi, Afrikaans etc. If we don’t have anyone in our team who speaks your language then we find someone who does to help you with the initial assessment phase. It is really simple and will take less than a minute. Once done, we would review it to see if a case can be filed on it. If yes, then a medical negligence lawyer would take up the case. We have a policy of no win no fee for lawyers, therefore we don’t charge anything in the beginning.

Sometimes, there can be multiple lawsuits applicable to a situation. We have a wide range of services for this kind of situation. You can hire a TPD lawyer if you are dealing with a permanent disability. If you were in the hospital because of an accident then you can hire a car accident lawyer or personal injury lawyers. If you had been in a work accident then you can hire our workers’ compensation lawyers.

To prove that there had been medical negligence then certain criteria have to be met. The first of it is to prove that a doctor-patient relationship had existed. It means that you hired the doctor and the doctor agreed to treat you. If you had casually taken advice from a doctor informally and this leads to you being harmed then you wouldn’t be able to sue the doctor. Next criterion is to prove that the doctor or hospital was actually negligent. You cannot file a lawsuit because you are not happy with the treatment or results. Generally, the question of whether a doctor is skilful and careful or not is the centre of such cases. So, you should be able to prove through an expert that there was some carelessness on the doctor’s part. To do that you would require testimony from that expert on how a competent individual would have done in a similar situation. If the testimony is strong enough then you are one step closer to claiming your compensation. Once it is established that the doctor was indeed negligent,the next step is to show that it led to an injury else the claim would be denied. Injuries can be either physical pain or mental anguish. If all the criterion is met then you can prove medical negligence. Then with the help of a medical negligence lawyer you can sue the doctor or hospital for your pain, lost earning capacity and medical expenses.

There are certain things that you should make note of. A lawsuit has to be filed within the statute of limitations. It means that you should file a lawsuit within 2 years. If you exceed the time limit then the court will dismiss the case without even considering the facts. Some states also require you to send a notice to the doctor regarding the negligence claim.

A medical negligence claim can get complex and it can get very stressful. While many medical negligence lawyers only look at the fee as their goal. We at Schreuders have only one goal and it is to get you justice. So, become our client now and let us help you get the compensation that you deserve. We operate in all major cities of Australia such as Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth and Adelaide.

Just because your matter is commenced in court does not mean that the only way to resolve your claim is to proceed to a hearing before a judge. When matters are commenced in court they are listed for a Directions Hearing. At this hearing, a timetable for the preparation of the matter is set. The timetable includes due dates for the provision of all evidence, such as expert reports in relation to liability and “quantum” or damages, as well as the provision of particulars and the filing of a defence.

Depending on the type of claim, other orders may also be sought and made. The matter will then be listed for a second Directions Hearing, at which time further orders may be made, including if the parties are ready, referral of the matter to an informal settlement conference ( or most often, a mediation), and the setting of a hearing date. Most of the time, there are more than two Directions Hearings due to the complexity of medical negligence cases.

It is at the informal settlement conference or mediation stage where the majority of the matters are resolved.  However, cases where one or both of the  parties have unreasonable expectations, where novel legal arguments are put forward, where the prospects of recovering compensation are poor, or where one party has misunderstood an issue in the case are commonly not  resolved. The matters that do not resolve proceed to a final hearing. The majority of matters not resolved at an informal settlement conference or mediation do not make it to the final hearing and usually settle in the period from the unsuccessful informal settlement conference or mediation leading up to the final hearing. Only a small proportion of matters proceed to a final hearing to be ruled on by a judge.

When we can demonstrate to the insurer or the defendant to your claim that you have good prospects of winning your case, the insurer or the defendant is unlikely to challenge  and is instead likely to offer you an amount to resolve your claim out of court. Therefore, thorough and careful preparation of your claim is fundamental to achieving an out of court resolution.

Usually, you must make a claim for medical negligence compensation within 3 years of your incident or injury. However, the date from which the 3-year limitation period commences to run differs from state to state and depends on the circumstances of each case. Often, but not always, the 3-year limitation period starts to run from when each of the following matters are “discoverable” or known by you:

• the fact that the injury or death concerned has occurred
• the fact that the injury or death was caused by the fault of the defendant
• in the case of injury, the fact that the injury was sufficiently serious to justify the bringing of an action on the cause of action.

It is, however, best practice to commence court proceedings within 3 years from the date of your incident or injury to avoid the defendant or the insurer attempting to argue that your claim is out of time. However, just because your medical incident or injury occurred more than 3 years ago, it does not mean that you are out of time to make a medical negligence compensation claim, as in many instances you may not have been aware of the limitation period or were not aware of each of the 3 factors described above.

How much your claim is worth requires us to ascertain the extent your injuries are attributable to the negligence of the defendant, and assess how you have been and are likely to be affected by your injuries and continuing disabilities in the future. We have an article with all the details about how much compensation you can get for medical negligence.