Often potential medical malpractice clients call with compelling stories about the medical errors they have suffered from, but with harms and losses that are relatively minor. These cases must be considered carefully due to the limited potential recovery for both client and attorney.

A new study from Emory University School of Law found that 95 percent of patient who seek a medical malpractice attorney are shut out of the legal system, primarily for this economic reason.

Find a link to the story here:

[Patient Harm: When An Attorney Won’t Take Your Case][1]

In Washington, we are fortunate to have no caps on damage amounts which may further limit the amount of claims that are viable. And contrary to this article, we don’t shy away from some of the smaller cases. When there is obvious and overt negligence, we are successful obtaining recoveries for our clients, even if the recoveries are limited.

Still, this article is accurate explaining the process by which malpractice attorneys decide whether or not to take on a client’s case. Considering the amount of money necessary to evaluate – let alone take the case to trial – is often prohibitive when considering the amount of potential recovery. It makes no sense to spend $50,000 to recover $50,000. Then nobody wins.

[1]: http://www.propublica.org/article/patient-harm-when-an-attorney-wont-take-your-case “Patient Harm: When An Attorney Won’t Take Your Case”