Talking to Prospective Clients About a Potential Medical Malpractice Claim

The popular late-night host of The Daily Show, Trevor Noah, has been in the spotlight recently after claims of a botched surgery led him to file a medical malpractice claim against healthcare professionals at New York’s Hospital for Specialized Surgery.

While the comedian has kept the specifics of his November 2020 surgery and resulting injuries secret from the public, even taking time off from filming his show for a week, he claims that he was “rendered sick, sore, lame, and disabled.”

The hospital has since denied his claims, calling them “meritless,” but this particular case, being so high-profile, has brought more attention to medical malpractice, and proven that anyone can get hurt by those who fail to uphold the accepted standards of care — even celebrities.

Medical malpractice can include a wide range of actions or, in some cases, inaction. Whether it was a doctor’s failure to properly diagnose, an error made during surgery, or an incorrect medication subscription, it’s possible for a patient to be seriously hurt as a result. When that happens, victims may choose to seek legal help in order to get justice, as Trevor Noah did.

These cases can be complicated, and as an attorney in the field, there are some crucial questions you can ask when speaking with a potential client who believes they were harmed by medical malpractice. These questions include:

• What did the healthcare professional do or not do that another professional would have done?
• What would be different if the negligence hadn’t occurred? How would your life be different, now and in the future?

These questions can help you start to get an idea of if this individual has a case or not, and if you think it would be possible to show the harm done and get the injured person the compensation they need to move forward.
Additionally, some questions a prospective client may ask you when considering hiring your firm to take on their medical malpractice claim may include:

• Have you handled cases similar to mine before?
• What kind of compensation might I be eligible for?
• What is the statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims? Do I still have time?

As is often the case, potential clients may do initial research online to find med mal attorneys in their area, so having a chat feature on your firm site could be extremely helpful in getting an initial conversation going with someone who is in the preliminary stages of researching attorneys.

It’s important to always evaluate the efficiency of your intake process no matter what type of cases you handle, but with injury cases, time is often of the essence, and the window to catch and keep someone’s attention while they’re looking is a small one.

Amidst healing from their injuries and likely dealing with mounting medical bills, looking for an attorney can be a stressful process. By having a chat feature like Ngage Live on your site and having a quick return rate on phone calls and emails, you can greatly increase the chances of turning a prospective client into a client.