Q: Why are professional negligence cases different from personal injury cases?
A: Professional negligence cases typically involve specialized defenses that are raised on behalf of the Defendant professional. They require the employment of one or more expert witnesses on both sides of the case, raising both the stakes and the complexity of the case. A normal personal injury case does not require an expert witness to say, for example, what the standard of care is for a driver approaching a red-light, because everyone knows or is required by law to know that the red-light means a driver has to stop his or her vehicle before entering the intersection. However, the requirements of the different professions require an expert witness to explain what rules or standards were violated.

Q: How will I know if I have a meritorious professional negligence case?
A: Georgia law requires that a Complaint alleging professional negligence, when filed in court, must have attached to it an affidavit by an expert witness outlining one or more acts or omissions constituting professional negligence by the Defendant professional. This means that the file in the case needs to be put together before the suit is filed in court. This requires getting the entire set of medical records if it is a medical malpractice case, or the legal file if it is a legal malpractice case, or the other written files for another professional negligence case. The file and records need to be reviewed by an appropriate expert witness in the specialty involved, who has to be paid his expert witness fee upfront for reviewing the file. That expert witness then provides an affidavit if that expert witness finds that a professional duty has been violated. Sometimes more than one expert witness is needed because there are multiple areas to be covered. For example, one type of medical expert would be needed on the negligence issue and another expert would be need on the treatment of damages. These things need to be known before suit is filed, and the affidavit(s) have to be attached to the civil complaint filed in court.

Q: How is my attorney fee determined?
A: Professional negligence cases are generally done on a contingency fee basis. This means that an attorney fee is owed only when money is received by settlement or collection on a verdict. If the case is not successful, then no attorney fee is owed. However, expenses of litigation and costs of prosecuting your claim and lawsuit are different from the attorney fee, because we advance these expenses for you, without markup. We can arrange for you to pay these charges as the case goes along or alternatively to carry them until a settlement or verdict is received, and apply them at that time against a settlement or verdict when funds are received at the end of the case.