I am Joe Taraska a trial attorney with Morgan and Morgan. Over the last 38 years of practice one of the most frequent questions I hear is "how do I select an attorney". In that this person will be the one to stand by you and your family during a time of great need the choice must be carefully made. So how do you do it?

First, consider the type of case you will be pursuing. Many are complex and require the skill of an attorney who specializes in that area of the law. For example if you are looking into a medical error you want a lawyer who primarily handles that type of litigation. The reason is that the laws that apply to different causes vary greatly. In Medical malpractice there are a number of procedural hurdles which if not followed exactly may lead to your case being dismissed. A specialist will be familiar with these and understand how to protect you. Advertising in this day and age is a well recognized and acceptable way to obtain the name of such an attorney or firm as well as word of mouth. When you speak with him discuss his area of expertise.

Second, Consider the education,training and experience of the attorney. This includes his experience in the courtroom. To be effective an attorney must be an experienced litigator and one whom the community recognizes as being willing to take your case to court. If he is so recognized it is much more likely that your case will settle such that your family is fairly compensated. In this regard, you should not be shy about asking an attorney you are interviewing how many cases he has tried and what is his success rate.

Third, A law firm that handles cases on a contingency basis is most likely going to front the costs of the litigation. As a result, you need to be sure that they have sufficient assets to cover not only your case but all the others they have agreed to handle. You do not want to be in a circumstance where the firm is not able to retain the best resources to support your case. As above ask how they intend to finance your litigation.

Fourth, be cautious about companies that simply offer to find you an attorney. These are not necessarily a poor choice as the bar (attorney organization) of your state may offer such a free service. However some may be nothing more than an organization that refers you to others on a fee per referral basis. This is not the same as you selecting an attorney you trust and allowing him to refer you to another in his firm or another firm that is more specialized in the field. However, even in this event, you want to ensure that you have properly evaluated this attorney as described above.

Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me Joe Taraska through my web site at joetaraska.com or the web site of Morgan and Morgan PA Forthepeople.com.

I'm Joseph Taraska an attorney in the medical malpractice department at Morgan and Morgan.

I will be regularly posting this blog to help you understand your rights if you or a family member believe you have been injured by a medical error.

The first thing you must known is that there is a time limit for you to file a claim. If you miss the time even by one day you will be forever barred from bringing a claim. So how much time do you have? This depends on when you first suspected that malpractice occurred causing you or your family an injury. That is the day the time period begins to run. However, using this as your starting point can often lead to an argument later that the time actually stated earlier. As a result it's best to be conservative and start counting the time from the day of the medical incident.

Once you have your starting date the law allows you two years to bring your claim. Although this seems like a lot of time it's unwise to wait. Rather you should contact an attorney as soon as you become aware of the possible malpractice. This is because these are very complex cases that take a great deal of time to properly investigate. In fact, because of their complexity, there are only a limited number of attorneys in the state who specialize in these cases. For example, our attorneys will first obtain the facts from you and then proceed to obtain all the necessary medical records. Although there are laws requiring the records to be produced quickly, this does not always occur and may require us to intervene. At Morgan and Morgan, once we have your records, they are reviewed to ensure they were all produced and there are no alterations. We then send them to medical experts around the country who specialize in the medical care you were provided. If malpractice occurred they will sign a sworn affidavit which will then be sent to the health care provider who committed the mistake. This starts your claim.

There are some exceptions to the two year rule which can be complex and generally require the analysis of an attorney. For example if it was impossible to determine that malpractice occurred in that two years the time may be extended. Similarly for children younger than eight, under certain circumstances there may be an extension. However even these extensions have definite time limits.

As you can see, this process is not only time consuming but takes expertise in the field. Morgan and Morgan is one of the few law firms in the state that have an entire department of lawyers and staff dedicated to these cases. If you believe you have been injured by such an error please do not hesitate to contact us. We would be happy to answer your questions at no cost.