Finding the best birth injury attorney to represent your case is vital when your baby suffers harm due to medical negligence. A knowledgeable and experienced birth injury lawyer can significantly impact your case’s outcome and help you fight for your deserved compensation. Here are seven methods to help you locate the best birth injury lawyers in your area.
1. Ask Friends, Relatives, and Coworkers
Word of mouth is a powerful tool for finding a reliable birth injury attorney. Speak with people you trust and ask if they have any personal recommendations for a lawyer who specializes in birth injury cases. While individual experiences can be helpful, remember that every person is unique, so conducting additional research is essential.
2. Ask Fellow Parents in a Support Group
Do you belong to a support group for parents with children who suffered similar birth injuries? Consider asking one of them for a referral. Some people belong to online support groups that share information and resources on social media, such as private Facebook groups. Do a search of prior posts and add a new post asking if anyone has personal experience with a birth injury lawyer near you.
3. Search Online Directories and Reviews
Online directories and review websites, such as Avvo and Martindale-Hubbell, provide comprehensive listings of lawyers sorted by location and practice area. These sites often include client reviews and peer ratings, giving you better insight into the lawyer’s experience, reputation, and performance.
4. Contact Your Local Bar Association
Your local bar association could be another resource for finding a birth injury attorney near you. They often have search tools or referral services to connect you with lawyers that handle birth injury cases. Although the local bar association might not provide specific recommendations, they can offer a list of qualified attorneys to consider.
5. Consult Your Child’s Therapist or Doctor
This option may or may not prove successful. Is your child seeing a specialist who deals with birth injury treatment? If so, that medical professional might have a recommendation for a qualified birth injury lawyer. However, do not be surprised if they don’t want to recommend anyone.
It’s still worth asking, as you never know. Some doctors work with or know of attorneys in their professional network, and their insights can be helpful in your search. However, any physician referral should be only one part of your decision-making process. Don’t take the doctor’s word on a lawyer without further researching the recommended attorney.
6. Check with Legal Aid Organizations
Legal aid organizations can also assist you in finding specific types of legal professionals, including a birth injury attorney. A legal aid organization has a database of attorneys they work with and recommend to provide the best legal assistance. Let them connect you with a qualified attorney willing to take your case. Contact your local legal aid office to inquire about their services and referrals.
7. Conduct an Online Search
A straightforward Google search can be a useful starting point when looking for the best birth injury attorney near you. Use keyword phrases such as “birth injury lawyer near me” or “best birth injury attorney” along with your city or zip code to generate a list of potential attorneys.
Comb through the results and do some more in-depth research. Visit their websites, read their bios, and look for case results and client testimonials to get a sense of their expertise and success in handling birth injury cases. Remember that some online directories or search results may include “pay-for-play” listings. That means it’s more like a paid advertisement. The more the attorney pays, the higher on the list they appear.
Tips for Finding the Best Baltimore Birth Injury Law Firm
Now that you have a list of attorneys you might be interested in, what happens next? After narrowing down your list to a few attorneys you’re interested in, consider the following tips to help you make a final decision.
Schedule Consultations with Each Attorney
Schedule initial meetings with each potential attorney. Most birth injury lawyers offer free initial consultations, allowing you to discuss your case’s details and assess if they are a good fit for you.
Use your meeting time wisely. Prepare a list of questions for each lawyer, focusing on their experience, birth injury lawsuit settlements, legal strategy, and more. Observe each attorney’s communication style and ensure this is someone you feel comfortable discussing your case with. Choosing the right birth injury lawyer is one of your most important decisions. Choose someone you feel comfortable with—an attorney can be very skilled but still not the right fit for you.
Check for Disciplinary Actions
Verify each attorney’s standing with the Maryland State Bar Association. Bar associations maintain a searchable online database of disciplinary actions against lawyers. Check for any serious actions against potential attorneys, such as suspensions or disbarments. This step will help you avoid hiring someone with a problematic professional history.
Assess Their Experience and Expertise
When looking at your list of attorneys, prioritize ones with extensive experience in birth injury cases. Do any of these attorneys have experience handling birth injuries similar to your child’s? Look for a lawyer with a proven track record of success in birth injury cases and who has expansive knowledge of your child’s birth injury.
Compare Fees and Payment Structures
Consider how each attorney handles legal fees and payment structures. Most birth injury lawyers work on a contingency fee basis. The attorney only gets paid with contingency billing if they recover compensation for your case. Confirm that the attorney you want to hire handles cases on a contingency basis and inquire about other costs and fees, such as court costs, medical experts, etc.
Contact Our Baltimore Birth Injury Lawyers
When searching for the best birth injury attorney in Baltimore, contact Baird Mandalas Brockstedt & Federico, LLC. Our lawyers have extensive experience representing parents of children who suffered a birth injury due to medical negligence.
We know what it takes to build a successful case and how to pursue the maximum compensation on your behalf. Please get in touch with our office to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation. Let us review your case and advise you on how best to proceed.
Phil Federico is a partner at Baird Mandalas Brockstedt & Federico where he helps lead the Mass Tort / Class Action and Environmental Law practices, transitioning into these areas after beginning his career as a medical malpractice litigator.
Phil has led and been involved in historic and groundbreaking litigation with verdicts and settlements exceeding one billion dollars.
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