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Automobile Negligence Cases
Legal Negligence Cases
Medical Malpractice Cases
Professional Malpractice Cases
Personal Injury Cases Wrongful Death Cases |
The
firm of Kelaher Law Offices, P.A. specializes solely in plaintiff's
person injury law, representing individuals injured or who have
suffered damages as a result of the negligence of others. James
Kelaher exclusively handles cases pertaining to automobile negligence,
medical, legal, and other professional malpractice cases as listed
in detail below:
Medical
Malpractice Cases
Jim Kelaher and his staff have been handling medical malpractice
cases for over seventeen years, and have lived through all the
changes in the laws which hold physicians and hospitals accountable
for their negligence. Since the Florida Medical Association and
the various hospitals around the state have very powerful lobbying
means, the law has continued to evolve in a manner most favorable
for health care providers. Our office has made every effort to
continue to pursue negligent physicians and nurses despite these
changes.
Many
people believe they have been wronged by a physician or hospital
because they receive a poor result from treatment or surgery.
Unfortunately, a poor result cannot be used as evidence of malpractice,
and the opinion of a similar physician is now a prerequisite to
bringing a medical malpractice claim. Many poor results are unfortunate
but acceptable complications of the procedure or treatment, and
not the result of a doctor's negligence. Unfortunately it is very
expensive to fully investigate these claims and so most attorneys
cannot undertake this investigation on every case. Because of
this, most physicians can escape liability for negligence where
the injuries to the patient are not of significant severity.
In
the seventies and early eighties, a law suit could be filed against
a physician for his or her negligence so that their patients could
seek just compensation when that health care provider was negligent.
In this manner, a doctor could be held accountable just like a
lawyer, accountant, architect or any other professional provider
of services. This is no longer true. The legislature has made
it increasingly difficult to sue a physician, and now makes an
injured victim jump through hoops and wade through a morass of
legal paperwork before a lawsuit can even be filed.
Under
the current law, before a doctor can be sued, the patient (or
in most cases, their legal representative) must obtain copies
of all relevant medical records. Most providers charge a dollar
a page for these records, which can end up costing hundreds or
even thousands of dollars merely to obtain copies of the records.
Once these records are obtained, then a similar health care provider
must review these records for a determination of whether there
was a deviation from the standard of care. If the reviewing expert
believes there is a viable claim against the doctor, this expert
then must sign a verified written medical opinion, usually in
affidavit form. This affidavit must then be sent to the physician
by certified mail, return receipt requested. After doing all of
this, then the victim of that doctor's negligence will be asked
by the doctor's defense counsel to produce all of the medical
records, as well as answer numerous questions about the claim.
The doctor's insurer has 90 days to conduct it's good faith investigation
of the claim. This whole process serves little purpose but to
delay the victim's prosecution of his or her claim by as much
as half a year.
At
the conclusion of the 90 day period, called a pre-suit period,
the doctor's attorney almost invariably sends a letter denying
the claim, and includes an affidavit from another similar physician
stating either there was no negligence or if there was negligence,
it caused the patient no harm. Regardless of how egregious or
outlandish the negligent doctor's conduct might have been, the
doctor's attorneys always seem to be able to find a doctor willing
to stick up for another physician. It is at this juncture that
a lawsuit is filed.
Lawsuits
by their nature are expensive to prosecute, and expensive to defend.
However, malpractice insurers rarely settle cases until shortly
before trial, unless the malpractice is undeniable and the patient's
injuries are clearly worth well more than the doctor's limits
of liability insurance. In many instances, the insurers refuse
to pay even under these circumstances. Rarely is a case settled
before the patient's expert witnesses are deposed, and there is
a good reason for this. Whenever a doctor's malpractice insurance
company settles a claim, it is required to report the settlement,
and the amount of the settlement, to Tallahassee. The Department
of Insurance keeps a record of these settlements, and physicians
wish to avoid being on this list. There are also web sites which
are referred to as "Bad Doctor Databases" and all physicians wish
to avoid being on these lists. Consequently, the physicians are
usually adamant they did nothing wrong to their insurers, and
it is not until another doctor of similar specialty voices his
or her criticisms of the doctor's care before the insurer feels
comfortable settling the claim. Because of this, the litigation
can take well in excess of one or two years to conclude.
During
the course of the litigation, depositions are usually taken of
all parties, as well as all treating doctors. Other discovery
takes place, including interrogatories, or written questions,
as well requests to produce written records, such as medical records,
marriage licenses, birth certificates and the such. As the trial
nears, the depositions of the expert witnesses are usually the
last to be taken, and then a mediation is usually scheduled right
before trial. A mediation is merely a settlement negotiation meeting
where an impartial third person, usually an attorney skilled in
the mediation process, is utilized to attempt to effectuate a
settlement of the case. If this fails, the next step is a trial.
Malpractice trials usually take at least three or four days, and
some can and do take weeks. Depending on the verdict, appeals
can be taken if the side unhappy with the outcome believes the
judge committed error during the handling of the trial, or in
ruling on any pre-trial motions. Appeals usually take at least
a year from beginning to end.

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