Suffolk County Birth Injury Lawyer

Childbirth should be a joyful moment for the mother giving birth and for everyone in her family. High-quality care from capable medical professionals is usually crucial to ensuring that is the case. Unfortunately, not every doctor who assists with childbirth does so with the degree of skill and professionalism they should. If you or your child suffered preventable harm because of malpractice, you likely have a right to demand civil compensation for the losses you have experienced and will experience as a result.

Filing suit against a negligent healthcare provider is complicated and challenging. If you want to give yourself the best possible chances of securing a positive case result while also minimizing additional stress along the way for you and your loved ones, you should retain a Suffolk County birth injury lawyer with experience handling similar medical malpractice cases successfully in the past.

Establishing Grounds for a Birth Injury Lawsuit

Holding a healthcare professional liable for losses stemming from an avoidable birth injury requires proving the medical professional was negligent in some way. Unlike other types of claims, negligence for healthcare providers is not defined based on a broad duty of care that everyone owes equally to everyone else but rather on a standard of care that is based on what another equally qualified and experienced physician would have done under the same circumstances—a significantly higher bar to clear, and one with much more room for subjective interpretation.

Civil courts in Suffolk County require injured people attempting to file suit over birth injuries with an attorney’s help to submit a certificate of merit alongside their initial complaint, which is a written and signed statement affirming their lawyer consulted with at least one qualified medical professional who agrees that legally actionable malpractice likely occurred, or that their lawyer made a substantial good-faith effort to do that but was unsuccessful. While this requirement does not apply to people trying to file suit without legal representation, having help from a capable attorney is essential to getting the best outcome possible from your unique case.

Other Rules for Birth Injury Malpractice Claims

Help from experienced legal counsel will also be important to building and filing a strong birth injury claim within the filing time limit set by the statute of limitations. Under most circumstances, you have two years and six months from the date on which the birth injury occurred to file suit. Failing to file suit by that deadline will result in your case being thrown out of court for being time-barred.

In certain situations, the starting point for this 30-month filing period may be tolled or paused. For example, if you do not discover that your child sustained a birth injury until several months after they were born, the filing period may start from the date of discovery rather than the date on which the injury occurred. A birth injury lawyer in Suffolk County could explain what deadlines may apply under your unique circumstances during a private initial consultation.

A Suffolk County Birth Injury Attorney Could Help

Birth injuries are not always preventable, even with the best possible medical care from qualified and dedicated physicians. However, many injuries of this nature are avoidable with proper care, and if you or your child were harmed during childbirth because of a doctor’s misconduct, that doctor—and potentially other people affiliated with them—may hold civil liability for your ensuing injuries and losses.

Taking legal action over this sort of malpractice is far from simple, and you want help from a knowledgeable Suffolk County birth injury lawyer from start to finish of your legal proceedings. Call today to discuss your options.