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The Importance of Medical-Legal Triage
 
Navigating the complexities of a medical case can be difficult. The attorneys who make regular use of Medilex already know the incredble value of the services we provide. Medical-Legal Triage is the beginning of that process, providing advantages that cannot be obtained in any other way.
Again, Medical-Legal Triage is the free, initial telephone screening of each case. Triage advice is not easily categorized. It is not exactly medical; it is not really legal either. Analytical skills, detail orientation and methodical nature combined with unparalleled medical-legal experience produce the unique medical-legal-logical-pragmatic amalgam that is Triage, helping to maximize gain and reduce risk simultaneously.
Depending on how far your case has progressed when you first call, Triage can help you:
- Decide whether to accept a case initially and/or invest in a medical expert review;
- Understand the nuances of the medical-legal landscape and how they might affect the case;
- Formulate solid medical-legal syllogisms to insure your case is on solid ground;
- Appreciate and identify argument validity and fallacies to help prepare for contingencies;
- Adopt a sound medical-legal strategy and counter opposing strategy;
- Identify medicalexpert fields that are implicated based on the issues presented;
- Select and combine medical experts for maximum economic and logistic efficiency;
- Develop strong, clearly articulated medical We invite you to contact us by telephone, by email, or by filling in the contact form below;
- Address new issues effectively and integrate them smoothly into your presentations;
- Navigate opposing medical expert opinions and determine their potential impacts;
- Evaluate and prepare medical expert disclosures and develop trial exhibits as may be needed; and,
- Question medical experts (opposing and your own) effectively at deposition and trial.
Will Triage Benefit My Case?
We all know that some cases are straightforward such that it is obvious who should review them. For these cases, Triage may play a small role. Others are obviously difficult such that you know you need advice. Triage usually helps these greatly.
However, it is the cases that appear simple but are not for which Triage is most beneficial. Do you know whether you have such a case or issue? Most attorneys do not know of the existence of the majority of current medical specialties. Some attorneys are mistaken about the fields of which they are aware. Many do not fully understand the medical issues or have erroneously made assumptions about practice standards or causal relationship. Many do not realize that a well-reasoned order of medical expert evaluations (when multiple fields are implicated) could save the cost of an entire review.
Avoid Costly Mistakes Before They Happen
Guessing and making assumptions will lead to disaster. We have cleaned up many disasters but it only takes one to learn that it is better to prevent an oil spill than to have to clean it up later. Assumptions alone account for numerous erroneous choices. We have personally seen fatal results such as:
- preclusion from adding a medical expert in the correct field after an erroneous choice, in one case forcing a defense settlement of over $750k and in another case forcing a $3.9 million dollar settlement for damage not actually caused by the alleged chemical exposure;
- failure to name one or more responsible parties — the result of "guessing" rather than having a case reviewed initially;
- missing a Statute of Limitations;
- failure to include a cause of action; and,
- legal malpractice claims (arising from some of the above and others).
Are you sure enough to pass up a free consultation about your case? Early identification of the real needs of a case can determine the outcome. This is where Medilex excels.
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