A gag order is usually a court order. It might be passed by the judge to remove a person from the court who is causing disturbances, or it could be for restricting prejudicial publicity that the participants in the trial are trying to give to the press. However, in a medical malpractice case, the defense attorney might ask for a gag order, as a condition to the settlement.
Juries seem to like show and tell for the same reason kids love it in elementary school. In school, kids are asked to bring in something to show and tell to the class. This activity is interesting, lively, and fascinating, and kids get to see something that they may have not seen previously. The kids bring in some new toy or some shiny object to class and tell what they know about it, which makes it interesting for everybody.
If the jury asks for a calculator during jury deliberations in a medical malpractice case, then does it mean it is time for the defense to try to settle your case? You have suffered harm and loss due to the negligence of a doctor and gone through the entire litigation process. Now the trial has ended, and the jury goes and starts deliberating. Now if the jury comes back and asks the court for a calculator, do you think the defense will start negotiating?
A lie told by the expert witness on the stand can change the whole course of the case. In a medical malpractice case, the defense attorney puts an expert witness on the stand. This witness is an orthopedic doctor, who is brought in to testify on behalf of the defense. During the questioning, the defense lawyer asks the orthopedist whether he is being paid to come and give his expert testimony.
When you are injured due to the negligence of your doctor, you may have a valid basis for a medical malpractice case. However, what do you do, if the doctor is refusing to release your medical records? You have the right to take copies of your medical records from any doctor, you have been consulting in the state of New York. In order to get the records, you have to write the doctor a permission slip, which simply asks for the copy of the records.
In medical malpractice case, it is possible that the jury is unable to reach a decision or is deadlocked. In such instances, the defense lawyer will most probably want the judge to declare a mistrial, whereas the plaintiff’s lawyer will want the jury to go back and continue deliberating until they reach a verdict. In any civil case in New York, when the jury deliberates, it needs five jurors out of the six, to agree on any one of the issues, in order to reach a verdict.
When an attorney accepts your medical malpractice case; who will be paying the expenses for prosecuting the case? The lawyer will be charging his fees on contingency basis, which means he will only be paid if you receive any compensation.
While questioning the doctor at the deposition or during pre-trial testimony, the plaintiff’s lawyer will try everything to push the doctor’s buttons. There is a key strategic reason why the lawyer does this. When an injured victim brings a lawsuit seeking compensation for the harms and losses he has suffered because of the doctor’s carelessness, the victim’s lawyer will have the opportunity during the litigation process to question the doctor under oath and at the attorney’s office. This is known as the deposition or examination before trial.
In a medical malpractice case, the defense lawyer might object that the expert witness we have called to the stand is not qualified to testify. This objection can be raised for a medical expert who is just about to testify, for whatever reason the defense lawyer believes, he is not qualified to testify.
Erb’s Palsy is a condition often resulting from birth injury caused by medical malpractice. Approximately 0.1 percent of babies are born with this condition, typically caused by improper delivery procedure. This can result in the child’s neck being twisted and stretched to the side. The strain can create inhibited movement and feeling in one arm due to injury to the brachial plexus, a network of nerves near the neck.
