New York Medical Malpractice Cases Are Like The Super Bowl Game

It is probably an analogy you have never heard, but a New York medical malpractice case is a lot like a Super Bowl game. Think about it. You have two opposing sides trying to win. Each side has a coach and leader, strategizing how to get to victory; this is like a lawyer. No matter the coaching, the players on the team are what really help to win the case; these are the clients. But beyond these semantic comparisons, there are a lot of characteristics of a medical malpractice case like a Super Bowl game.

First, the best chance of success happens before the game. Like any finely-tuned athletic team, a plaintiff in a medical malpractice case needs to do research, evaluate the possible claims, and prepare for the litigation. This includes planning how to fight the claims by the other side to help your claims be successful and victorious. These types of lawsuits do require a lot of attention and work, which is why pre-litigation planning is crucial.

Second, just like a Super Bowl game where the coach and players need to work together to win, in a medical malpractice case the lawyer and client needs to also work together. The lawyer learns the medicine and knows the law better than the client; that will always be turn. But the lawyer cannot win the case alone; the client needs to be able to testify in a deposition, help direct the lawyer’s attention to possible claims, and testify at trial and in front of a jury. Unfortunately, a large part of lawsuits are won and lost by the presentation of the client, how the client testifies, and how the client conducts himself or herself. A client must cooperate with his or her lawyer, and a client must be ready to work hard to win his or her case just like the lawyer.

Third, as the Super Bowl games begins to wind down and get close to the end, the players have to keep working hard and not let up. In a medical malpractice case, the bulk of the hard work is done pre-litigation and in disclosure. But this does not mean coming into trial that the work gets easier. While it may be true that the plaintiff has the defense in a tough position and posed for the plaintiff to win, this cannot be taken for granted. Every medical malpractice case must be fully prosecuted and worked hard to the very ends. The last play of the case cannot be lax and must be played just as hard if not harder than the start.

But what do you think? I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment or I also welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@fishermalpracticelaw.com. You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.