Practising medical malpractice law

Anne Spafford, Lerners LLP, Toronto

Pros:
• Doing medical malpractice work, you necessarily acquire a great deal of knowledge of medical matters, which is helpful in everyday life.
• Since it is a very specialized area, it is a small bar and there is a great deal of collegiality. Also, because there are very few “dabblers,” most lawyers doing the work are very knowledgeable in the area.
• Generally speaking, it is not a paper-intense practice so you won’t spend hours and hours going through/organizing documents.
• For the most part, the factual and legal issues are interesting and challenging.
• For those of us doing the defence work, the clients are very sophisticated.

Cons:
• All of these cases involve someone having a bad outcome while receiving medical treatment. The plaintiffs/patients can be very sympathetic so whether you act for plaintiffs or defendants, it is important not to get involved from an emotional standpoint.
• Some cases literally involve blood and guts, so it is not for the faint-hearted.
• For those doing plaintiff work, these cases tend to be very difficult to succeed on.
• Since the area is very specialized, there is a steep learning curve. It is not for dabblers.
• All cases involve the retainer of experts so it is critical to determine what expert is needed and it helps tremendously to know who the experts are and be able to get them to agree to assist you on a case. Without experts, your case will likely fail, whether you are acting for the plaintiffs or defendants.

Linda Wong, Pacific Medical Law, Vancouver

Pros:
• If you’re curious and never want to be bored, then medical malpractice litigation is definitely an area of the law to explore. You will be faced with a dizzying array of human interest stories set within a complex area of the law.

Cons:
• The personal challenge, or some may say “con,” of this area of the law is listening to so many despairing patients or their families, yet interacting with each individual with humanity and professionalism.
• The legal challenge is the great number of injured people medical malpractice lawyers cannot help because the economic risk of litigating their cases outweighs their potential monetary recovery.