Professional Malpractice
Medical Malpractice Attorneys
When we entrust matters requiring special skill to trained professionals, be they doctors, accountants, lawyers, or others, we rely upon them to act within the standard of care applicable to that profession. The consequences can be devastating when they are negligent. Health care providers, in particular, literally hold our lives in their hands. Our firm is honored to help clients recover just compensation when they were injured or harmed by a professional who failed to follow the standard of care that any other reasonable professional would have observed.
The evaluation of claims against professionals requires special skill. Over the years, hundreds of clients have turned to us to determine whether they are the victims of negligence or tragic bad luck. Examples of such medical and professional cases we have taken are listed to the right.
The key to the proper handling of these cases is early evaluation by highly qualified experts in the field involved. Over the years we have worked closely with experts in many different disciplines to whom we can turn to evaluate your case.
Medical malpractice cases, in particular, present special problems. While courts require that allegations of medical negligence be supported by the testimony of qualified physicians, health care professionals typically are extremely reluctant to testify against fellow professionals. We have overcome this difficulty by identifying medical specialists from other parts of the country who are willing to testify as well as local physicians for whom the maintenance of high professional standards of competence is more important than protecting their colleagues from the consequences of their negligence.
Malpractice cases are also procedurally complex. The rules and requirements to even initially present a claim for medical malpractice differ greatly depending upon whether your claim is brought in Maryland, Virginia or the District of Columbia.
Examples of such cases include:
- several babies who suffered a crippling arm injury at birth because an obstetrician or other medical professional employed the wrong technique in delivering the child;
- a retired government worker who died of AIDS that he contracted from a blood transfusion that he never should have needed;
- a government employee who faces the likelihood of an early death from skin cancer because his dermatologist mistook his cancerous lesion for a benign mole;
- a military wife who had to have both of her big toes amputated because her doctor failed to properly treat her infected ingrown toenails;
- a divorced man who lost thousands of dollars because his divorce lawyer failed to include an important provision in his marital property settlement agreement;
- persons injured by negligence of others, who were harmed when their first personal injury attorney failed to adequately prepare their case;
- a local developer who incurred substantial delay and unnecessary costs in the development of a residential subdivision because of negligence on the part of a firm of engineers, planners and surveyors.
In Maryland, for example, virtually all health care malpractice claims must be filed with the Health Claims Alternative Dispute Resolution before a lawsuit can be filed. In Virginia, the time within which a professional malpractice claim must be filed generally is shorter than in Maryland or the District of Columbia. In Maryland and Virginia, the maximum amount that you can recover is limited by statute, but this is not the case in the District of Columbia. Our thorough familiarity with all of the applicable rules, evidentiary requirements, and causation standards enables us achieve justice for our clients.
Kopstein & Associates, LLC
4300 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 210
Lanham, Maryland 20706-4314
Phone: 301.552.3330
David Kopstein: dkopstein@cox.net
