I recently gave a talk at Seattle University on medical malpractice from a plaintiff attorney’s perspective. In the audience were health care providers, law students and lawyers. I had some sense heading into the presentation that there might be those in the audience less “receptive” to a plaintiff attorney’s perspective. This is because unfortunately, many (most?) of the health care providers in our country have been misled about medical malpractice plaintiff lawyers and lawsuits.

I personally know a number of physicians, nurses and other health care workers. I know their employers – and the insurance carriers who cover them – tend to overemphasize the possibility of a claim arising from something they do or fail to do in course of their work. So I can certainly understand it when I received some skeptical looks at the beginning of my talk.

It’s a similar mindset many folks have who call my office with a possible claim. Without getting into the reasons why this false national impression exists, it does. Health care providers have to practice defensive medicine because some sue happy patient finds a slick talking lawyer who bamboozles a jury into giving some outlandish lottery-style award.

So, over the course of my 45 minutes, I enjoyed discussing with these skeptics the ins and outs of a typical case, and over that time I think it’s safe to say they came away with a different perspective on the work I do and the hurdles plaintiff malpractice victims face.

Our health care system is much maligned, and it certainly has the room for improvement. Even with all that improvement, doctors, nurses, ARNPs and physician assistants are still human and will continue to make mistakes. And unless something radical happens to our national consciousness, only when the care complained of is egregious and the harm catastrophic, will juries find fault and allow victims to recover some portion of their loss.

My partner and I love what we do: we get to help those who tend to need it the most: victims who are seriously injured, who have had their lives turned upside down through no fault of their own. People who are unable to work, who have medical bills piling up, who regularly receive letters from creditors for unpaid debts. We fight these uphill battles every day, typically against excellent defense attorneys retained by the defendant’s insurance company.

And still, I find myself feeling sad on a daily basis, when I have to tell someone that I can’t help them with their claim. It’s one of the worst parts of my job. Perhaps I will live to see the day when the national mindset has changed: from money hungry plaintiffs and their lawyers with their hands out asking for money, to a more empathetic point of view. Here is this person who is hurt. Let’s hold good looking and well meaning doctors and nurses accountable when appropriate, not only so that this person gets money that can help this injured person, but also so that the entire system – for all of us – will continue to get safer.