What To Expect From A Birth Injury Legal Consultation

Childbirth is an inherently traumatic process. All too often, mothers and babies are subjected to injuries during the birth process that could have been prevented had they received appropriate care from physicians, nurses, technicians, and even hospitals. If you or your child has suffered harm during the birthing process, you may be entitled to financial compensation. Schedule a confidential consultation with an attorney who handles birth injury cases to learn more about your rights and opportunities for recourse.

Who Should Schedule A Birth Injury Legal Consultation?

Unlike congenital disabilities, birth injuries do not manifest as a result of genetics, toxic exposure in the womb, and other forces outside the control of medical providers. Birth injuries are generally defined as impairments of an infant's physical structure or function caused by adverse events during the birthing process. An "adverse event" is an unexpected, unfavorable occurrence. Birth injuries occur when negative, unexpected occurrences during the birthing process cause an infant harm. In other words, a medical error.

While not all birth injuries are legally actionable, many are. This is because when health care professionals are delivering the proper standard of care during the birthing process, it is rare that an infant will suffer significant injury. Most of the time, if an infant has suffered physical harm during the birthing process, some mistake or misstep has contributed to causing the harm.

It is essential for the parents of infants who have been harmed during the birthing process to explore their legal options as soon as they can. Parents must careful, as treating doctors often try to downplay the injury or suggest whatever it is “will go away,” when they know full well that isn’t true. Parents may even be gaslighted and blamed for what has happened to their children.

Instead of making assumptions about whether you have grounds to file legal action if your infant has been harmed during the birthing process, it is best to speak with an experienced attorney about your options. By investing a little bit of your time speaking with an attorney in a no-risk and free legal consultation, you can clarify your rights and what your options are moving forward. The worst that happens is that you learn that your matter is not legally actionable, and you are not left wondering "What if?" for the rest of your life.

What Happens At A Birth Injury Legal Consultation?

No two legal consultations ever unfold in the same way. Your consultation will be unique because your situation and how you communicate about it is unique. There are a few things that you can expect from the consultation process as a matter of course. First, you will be asked to tell our legal team to the bet of your ability what happened to your child. You’ll be able to ask us questions about your situation. We pride ourselves on providing personalized legal guidance. We cannot personalize our assistance until we know what has happened to your family.

Second, we may review any documentation or other evidence you have brought or sent along for us to assess. Detailed evidence helps us provide personalized legal guidance.

Third, we will describe your legal rights and explain your options. If it is unclear whether your child's harm is legally actionable, we may recommend that you allow us to investigate your child's situation in greater detail.

Fourth, and probably most important, we get to know each other. Birth injury cases can be highly emotional and can take a year or more from start to finish. We want to make sure that you are at ease with our representation. Behind all the legalese, we are people who want to help you, and if the case is to move forward successfully, we will need to build mutual trust and respect.

If You've Already Been Offered A Settlement

Suppose you've already been offered a settlement by the facility that treated your child or by a medical provider. In that case, it is critical that you schedule a consultation as soon as you can. Chances are, you may have only a few days to review the terms of your settlement before you are compelled to accept or reject it. If the settlement has been offered in good faith, it might be reasonably valued and have been offered to spare litigation costs. However, if it was not offered in good faith, it is likely that it is undervalued and should be rejected. Unfortunately, most settlement offers made before an attorney gets involved are substantially below the real value of the case.

Many people are unaware that if they accept a settlement offer, they will likely be barred from filing a lawsuit against responsible parties in the future, even if it turns out the injuries are much more extensive than was anticipated at the time of the agreement to settle. This is one of the reasons why it is so important to have an experienced attorney look over a settlement offer's terms before accepting it. If it is not valued fairly, you could be left responsible for paying for your child's ongoing medical care many years into the future when someone else should be held responsible for those costs.

It may or may not be in your best interest to accept a settlement offer. However, you will not know for sure until our legal team has looked it over thoroughly and objectively.

In our experience, if you have been offered a settlement without an attorney to negotiate its terms, you have a case, and they have substantially undervalued your loss.

Contact An Ohio Birth Injury Attorney To Learn More

Birth injury cases are notoriously complex –it is often very difficult to prove all the events that transpired that led to an infant's harm. You need a lawyer on your side who has extensive experience with these kinds of cases and knows how to uncover the truth and get results on behalf of a family affected by a traumatic birth. The reputable legal team at The Eisen Law Firm has this experience and know-how and is ready to advocate aggressively on behalf of your child's interests.

To learn more about your rights and options, connect with The Eisen Law Firm by calling 216-687-0900 or contacting us online to schedule a no-risk, free consultation today. We look forward to speaking with you and hearing your child's story.