15 Questions to Ask Your Birth Injury Attorney

If you, your partner, or your child was injured during pregnancy or delivery, you may want to hire a lawyer to sue the hospital or doctor. A birth injury attorney is a personal injury litigator who specializes in seeking justice for this type of medical malpractice.

The first step is meeting with an attorney to discuss your case. Lawyers call such meetings “consultations,” and they give you a chance to share details and get the lawyer’s perspective. Some lawyers offer free or discounted consultations. All LegalASAP birth injury attorney consultations are free and don’t obligate you to do anything else. However, not everyone will source a local birth injury attorney through this website. If that applies to your case, be sure to ask about charges before scheduling the appointment.

Once you have the meeting booked, do a little planning to make the most of the time you have with the birth injury attorney. In addition to gathering relevant documents, make a list of questions to ask.

What Questions Should I Ask a Birth Injury Attorney Before Retaining Legal Services?

Here are 15 questions to ask your birth injury attorney during your consultation:

1. How long have you been in practice and how many birth injury lawsuits have you handled?
2. What courtroom experience do you have trying cases like mine?
3. Do you personally have a good knowledge of obstetrics/neonatal care? If so, please describe it.
4. Do you have an in-house medical team specifically trained to review specific birth injuries? If so, what are their qualifications?
5. Do you work with a company that reviews medical evidence for you? If so, what is the company’s name?
6. Can I speak with the person/company who’ll be reviewing our medical documents prior to signing a retainer or fee agreement with you?
7. How do you find experts to testify on behalf of families/parents?
8. Do you think we have a case we can win and if so, how much money might I get?
9. What are your fees for this kind of case?
10. About how long will the case take?
11. Will you provide a retainer agreement in writing?
12. How do you handle court costs and other expenses? When and how do you bill for those costs?
13. Do you provide me copies of correspondence sent or received on my behalf and copies of each legal paper or pleading?
14. Have you or any other birth injury attorney working on our case been professionally disciplined? If so, are you/they currently in good standing with the Bar?
15. Do you carry malpractice insurance, and if so, who is your carrier and what are the limits of the policy?

Other Things to Consider

It’s also important to ask for clarification on any terms or concepts you don’t understand — during the consultation and throughout your case. The law is complicated, and there’s no shame in not understanding something. Because working with a birth injury attorney is vital to making a strong case, you deserve to be clear on anything related to your situation. Reputable legal professionals welcome questions and appreciate engaged and informed clients. Be sure to also ask how much time is left to file a birth injury claim before your state’s deadline expires.

Pursuing justice can be complex and stressful. Finding the right legal representation is crucial, and asking the right questions helps you identify the best birth injury lawyer for your case.

Ready to see if you may qualify? Complete your free online birth injury case evaluation now!