How To Talk To A Lawyer About Medical Malpractice

We want you to call us. Call us to vent. Call us to explain your situation. Call us to just talk. It's OK. It's what we do; talk to many, many people everyday and listen to their dilemmas, their problems and make judgments about which problems may justify legal action. We listen to highly educated people, and folks with little formal schooling; stable people and nutty people; working people, and nonworking people. We listen to everyone all the time. If you have a feeling -- and it can be just a feeling -- that a physician or other health care provider did something wrong to you or someone you care about, call an attorney.

But. . .

There are good ways and bad ways to initiate dialogue with an attorney about a potential medical malpractice case. Consider these points:

• Keep it brief and succinct. Remember that lawyers talk to lots of people everyday about potential cases. To be honest, some people that contact us (and I don't think it's just us. . . I hope) are a little nutty. Whether by email, letter or telephone, we sometimes receive long, rambling stories in which folks seems to complain about everyone and everything all at once. We tend not to focus much attention to these. Before contacting an attorney, sit down and think about how to state your prospective case in a sentence or two. Your story probably cannot be told with complete accuracy in such a brief manner. That's OK. But providing the lawyer with a short and to-the-point summary upon first contact you will get his or her attention and the attorney will likely be compelled to spend time talking to you, asking questions, eliciting important information. Also, by approaching an attorney in this way you are helping to establish your credibility as someone the attorney would like to work with and for.

• Be frank and forthcoming. Never hide information from an attorney. Even before you formally enter into an attorney/client relationship a lawyer with whom you speak during an initial consult, even if it's over the telephone, is bound to keep what you tell him or her confidential. Sometimes the details of a potential case or the people involved can be difficult to talk about, or even embarrassing, but the lawyer simply must know everything in order to serve you adequately. You need to be honest. If you are not frank in the beginning the attorney will almost always learn what you failed to disclose down the road. This could harm your relationship with your attorney and damage your case.

• Be prepared to ask questions. The attorney will undoubtedly have lots of questions to ask you. Likewise, you should ask lots of questions of the attorney. Again, before contacting a lawyer take a few minutes and think about what questions you would like answered. Ask about the attorney's fee, ask about how much experience the attorney has handling medical malpractice matters, ask what has to happen before a lawsuit can be filed, ask how the attorney will go about determining whether you have a case or not, etc. Doing so will provide you with helpful information, and will also bolster your credibility as someone the attorney would like to represent.

Entering into an attorney/client relationship is in many ways like entering into any other human relationship. Initial impressions are important and it can take some time for a bond based on trust and mutual admiration to form. When both attorney and client keep that in mind the relationship will likely be productive and pleasant.

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