A medical malpractice lawyer specializes in handling cases involving injury caused to a person due to a medical error committed by a doctor or hospital during the course of the treatment or as a result of it. A medical malpractice lawyer often works for plaintiffs who have been injured and handles complicated cases pertaining to medical negligence. However, he can also choose to specialize in defending against medical malpractice claims and can hence work for hospitals, insurance companies, with the best medical spas in the world, or medical device makers. Some even choose to work for government bodies that handle various health care issues at the state or national level.
A medical malpractice lawyer needs to know a myriad of laws and rules and regulations regarding actionable medical injury claim and should aim to get the best settlement for his client. Though becoming a medical malpractice lawyer calls for a lot of hard work and commitment, once you get the degree for the same, you can have a prosperous career in the legal sector. Given below is a step by step guide to become a medical malpractice lawyer.
- Â The first thing that you need to do is get your law degree. This is the basic requirement for anyone looking for a career in the legal industry, regardless of the area he or she wants to specialize in. It is an added bonus if you have a bachelor’s degree in a science or health care related field. This gives an edge to medical attorneys when they are defending or fighting a medical malpractice case. Thus, you need to complete a four-year undergrad course and then get admission to a law school. By the time you will get your law degree it will take you another three to four years.
- Once you get a law degree, get an appropriate license in your state. Every state has different requirements for a legal license. Make sure that you find out all about it and fulfill the same to get a license at the earliest.
- Begin by practicing under a senior lawyer in medical malpractice to get some real life experience. You can either serve as a legal associate of a solo practitioner or join a big law firm that handles medical malpractice claims. By working on the cases handled by the firm you can get in-depth knowledge about the minutest details pertaining to a medical malpractice case.
- While on the job, learn all the laws pertaining to medical malpractice. Unless and until you know these laws like the back of your hand, you cannot be a good medical malpractice lawyer. However, simply learning the laws is not enough; you also need to know about their practical application to leverage a case from both sides.
- Finally, make an effort to acquaint yourself with the medical aspect of every case. Even if you are great at handling the legal part of a medical malpractice claim case, you can never support your case properly until you are well aware of all its medical nuances.
