In a medical malpractice case in New York, after the injured victim’s lawyer has made his opening remarks, does the defense attorney necessarily have to give his opening remarks? The answer is no. The defense attorney need not provide his opening remarks after the plaintiff’s lawyer has done so.
In a medical malpractice case it is critical to explain to the jury, what were the expected standards of care in the treatment how were these standards violated, and why such violation made a difference? For instance, you may have consulted a doctor for some health issue, and after receiving treatment from the doctor, you end up with an injury rather than getting back on track and getting your health back. You would want to know, whether the doctor has violated the basic standards of care that caused you harm.
You hire a medical malpractice attorney based on his past results, and you firmly believe that this attorney could never lose your case at trial. However, this line of thinking on your part is quite flawed. Many lawyers tell potential clients that they have sterling results in the past, and even show them a list of cases that they had won, and huge settlements that they were able to obtain for their clients.
There will be instances when your lawyer could voluntarily expose a key weakness in your medical malpractice case in his opening arguments. This may sound quite shocking to you, since you would have thought your lawyer will start building a strong foundation for your case right from the start. Willingly presenting a weakness to the jury in the opening arguments might not seem right.
If the plaintiff’s attorney catches a witness in a lie at a medical malpractice deposition or at a trial, should he make a bid deal about it at that time or should he wait? There are different ways to address the issue of witness lying on the stand or at deposition. Several tactics and strategies are there to maximize the effect of witness lying during pretrial testimony or at the time of trial.
Premature separation of the placenta, also known as placental abruption occurs when the placenta either partially or fully separates from the uterus prior to the baby’s birth. There are few direct causes, and they include injury to the abdomen or a sudden loss of a large quantity of uterine fluid, such as occurs after the birth of the first twin in a multiple birth.
In a medical malpractice trial, the plaintiff’s attorney has the opportunity of questioning and cross-examining the defense’s medical expert. However, he makes the critical mistake of asking, “Doctor tell us why?” This gives the doctor opportunity to provide an elaborate explanation.
The deposition is a question and answer session under oath that takes place before the trial. When you have filed a medical malpractice lawsuit, you lawyer will have the opportunity at this session to ask a number of questions to the doctor, to find out more details about the case. The main information the lawyer will try to find out is:
Did you know that when you bring a medical malpractice lawsuit, you have the right to have your case heard by the judge, and render a decision by the judge, as opposed to having a jury rendered decision? Even when this is allowed, most injured victims in New York prefer to have their case heard by a jury.
You must have watched cross-examination of witnesses in a trial, in many popular TV series. However, there are specific strategies in cross-examining a witness in medical malpractice cases. Two key elements of a successful cross-examination are preparation, and keeping the witness on a very short leash.
