The Three Key Steps to Find The Right Florida Medical Malpractice Attorney For You.
Step 1: Seek a name from a trusted source.
Referrals Are The Best Starting Point.
The first step to find a good medical malpractice lawyer is to seek a referral from a lawyer you know, like, and trust.
I get most of my medical malpractice cases through referrals from attorneys who know, like, and trust me. Other professionals, such as CPAs and financial advisers, do the same. They know my reputation, my experience, and my focus on serious malpractice cases. These professionals are in a position to know which lawyers in a community are trustworthy, and which are not.
While I give my all to every prospective client, I prioritize prospective clients who are referred to me for a few reasons. First, if a trusted attorney sends me a referral, there is a better chance that the referral is in my focus area. Second, when a referral lawyer sends me work, I know that I’m accountable to not just a potential client, but also to an attorney or fellow professional, who expects me to do my best to serve that referral. All the incentives from a referral relationship lead to the best outcome for the potential client.
For those reasons, I’d recommend anyone seeking a medical malpractice attorney talk to three professionals: lawyers, CPAs, or other professionals that you know in the community where you, or your family member, was hurt. Ask these professionals for the lawyers they would call. If you like and trust these professionals, they will give you the names of folks they like and trust. The names you get should certainly rise to the top of your potential list.
Step 2: Check the internet.
Checking the Internet
When buying anything these days, the internet provides a wealth of information. When retaining the services of an attorney, the web is a rich resource to discover more information. Here are a few of the websites you should look at carefully as you consider a medical malpractice lawyer in Florida.
Lawyer’s Website
The most important thing to look for on a lawyer’s website is a focus on medical malpractice. Many, many law firms list medical malpractice as a practice area alongside personal injury, premises liability, auto accidents, and a host of other practice areas. The more practice areas, the more likely the firm is a jack of all trades and a master of none.
If you look at my website, you’ll see it is solely focused on one area. Each practice area is focused on specific types of medical malpractice. If a lawyer website has more than one or two areas of focus, you should use some caution. When you want brain surgery, you want a brain surgeon, not a talented heart surgeon. The same applies to medical malpractice versus other types of personal injury claims.
Florida Bar Website
The Florida Bar has a member search website: https://www.floridabar.org/directories/find-mbr/. This website allows you to search for a lawyer, and to check to see whether that lawyer has ever been reprimanded by the Florida Bar. If a lawyer has been reprimanded, you can look into the details on the website to see what occurred. Ensuring that your lawyer has a clean professional record, or an excellent explanation for why that lawyer does not, is an important thing to check before hiring an attorney.
Client and Peer Review Websites
Like other businesses, law firms get client and peer reviews online. My preferred platform for this is AVVO. At the moment, I have all five star reviews from former clients. Other platforms include Lawyers.com, Justia, and even Google. Whatever the platform, seeing what former clients and peers have to say about a lawyer is useful information to have before retaining an attorney. While a few negative reviews will likely happen to any business, it makes sense to take a look. If you see a pattern of negative reviews that show the lawyer or law firm is failing in a key aspect of the job, you can take action accordingly.
Step 3: Meet the Lawyer.
You Should Know Your Lawyer, Face to Face.
Before you officially sign a contract with a lawyer for a medical malpractice case, you should meet the lawyer. Not the nurse investigator, not the paralegal: your potential lawyer.
Many law firms send staff or associates to sign up new clients. While at times sending staff is necessary, such as when the lead attorney is in trial and a statute of limitations is pressing, it is important to insist on meeting your lead lawyer face-to-face before signing up to be represented. You want to know, like, and trust the person who will go before a jury for you to seek justice. Finding out halfway through your case that you don’t like the trial attorney representing you is not good for anyone involved.
Using these three steps, you will maximize the chances of picking the best lawyer for your specific case.
Legal Advice Disclaimer:
I’m a licensed attorney in Florida. I provide legal advice, but only to my clients — people who have a written agreement with me. I don’t provide legal advice through this site.
The articles you see here — or anywhere else online — aren’t any different from reading a newspaper or magazine article by a lawyer, or watching a lawyer on a television show talk about a case. I might write about legal issues relevant to your situation, but professional legal advice requires an in-depth discussion with you about your case, a thorough investigation into all the relevant facts, and substantial research into the relevant laws.