Bringing a lawsuit against a medical doctor, dentist, or other provider in the form of a medical malpractice lawsuit in California has many technical requirements that differ from a traditional lawsuit.
For example, if you filed a medical malpractice lawsuit in San Francisco, or anywhere else in the bay area, you would at some point in the case need to present an expert witness (another doctor, dentist, surgeon or other medical professional) who will testify that there was medical malpractice in your case. This is very different from say a car accident case where there is no legal requirement to present an expert witness that the accident occurred because of negligence. The legal reason behind this requirement is that it is assumed that what constitutes “medical malpractice” or “med mal” is beyond the knowledge of your average juror, but, what constitutes ordinary negligence, like driving a car negligently, is something the average juror knows about.
The end result of this rule however, is that if you do not have a expert witness in the form of a doctor, surgeon, dentist, or other medical professional, who is prepared to testify that there was medical malpractice, your case likely will be in trouble. This rule applies anywhere in California from Oakland San Mateo and San Francisco all they way to Redding and San Diego.
Thus, it is critical to have a lawyer/attorney that is experienced in this area of law and can help you with your medical malpractice action and avoid the technicalities that can get your case dismissed. The San Francisco based Bay Area attorneys of Jones & Devoy have experience in medical malpractice actions and can help you make sure your case is properly prepared to hit the ground running.
