Overview of Professional Malpractice Law

Professionals such as doctors and lawyers are held to a higher duty of care than the average person. When a professional makes a mistake that causes harm, you can file a professional negligence claim for damages. These lawsuits generally require expert testimony to establish the standard of care for the profession and causation for damages.

Types of professional liability claims include medical malpractice, legal malpractice, and psychological malpractice. Professional malpractice lawsuits have a strict statute of limitations. Contact a professional malpractice lawyer as soon as possible for legal advice.

What Is Professional Malpractice?

Professional malpractice involves negligence committed by someone in a specialized job. Professionals have advanced training, education, and licensing. Their qualifications hold them to a higher standard of care than others.

Professional malpractice occurs when someone deviates from the standards of their profession, causing harm or damage to clients or patients. A doctor owes a medical duty of care to their patients. Lawyers owe a legal duty of care to their clients. When professionals deviate from those standards and cause harm, the victims can file a malpractice claim for compensation.

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Types of Professional Malpractice

The most common type of professional malpractice involves doctors and medical professionals. However, professional malpractice can involve any type of profession. Types of professional malpractice include:

• Medical malpractice
• Dental malpractice
• Chiropractor malpractice
• Psychiatrist malpractice
• Pharmacist malpractice
• Legal malpractice
• Accounting malpractice
• Engineering malpractice
• Real estate malpractice
• Architecture malpractice
• Financial planning malpractice

Proving a Professional Malpractice Claim

The elements of a professional malpractice claim are similar to those of other negligence claims, such as car accidents or personal injury lawsuits. However, professional liability cases have additional requirements based on the defendant’s profession.

The elements of a professional liability claim include:

1. Duty. The defendant owed a professional standard of care to the plaintiff.
2. Breach. The defendant breached the duty of care by deviating from the standards of their profession.
3. Causation. The defendant’s breach caused the plaintiff’s injuries or harm.
4. Damages. The plaintiff suffered financial, reputational, or physical harm.

The duty of care is based on what another professional in the field would do in the same or similar circumstances. What would a reasonable professional do given the same knowledge, skill, and ability in a similar situation? Even if another professional would do something different, it is not necessarily malpractice. It becomes malpractice if the professional’s actions or inactions go outside their professional standards.

The professional’s breach must also have proximate causation to the damage. Making professional errors that do not cause damage generally don’t give their clients a cause of action. Similarly, if the professional acted outside their standards but didn’t cause any damage, there is no legal claim.

Using Expert Testimony for Professional Malpractice Cases

Professional negligence claims often involve standards of care that people outside that profession person don’t understand or have experience with. As a result, professional malpractice cases require testimony of an expert witness who can help the judge or jury understand the standard of care in the profession and determine liability.

An expert’s scientific, technical, or specialized knowledge can help the jury understand the evidence or determine facts in issue. An expert witness can review a case and give their expert opinion on whether the defendant breached their standard of care and caused the damage.

For example, if you have a medical malpractice lawsuit involving a neurosurgeon, you would need another neurosurgeon to provide expert testimony. Even though dentists and psychiatrists are healthcare professionals, they don’t have the same experience or training as a neurosurgeon. Likewise, in a case involving dental malpractice, you would need a dentist to serve as expert witness, not a neurosurgeon.

Professional Malpractice Insurance and Legal Claims

Many professionals carry professional liability insurance. Some professions require liability coverage in order to practice. For example, most healthcare providers must carry medical malpractice insurance to practice medicine. When a professional is liable for malpractice, the insurance company pays the claim.

When someone makes a claim against the professional for malpractice, the insurance company defends the claim. Malpractice insurance generally carries a duty to defend and pay out for covered claims, up to the liability limit. The insurance companies pay the costs of the legal defenses. The insurance company can also negotiate a settlement offer on behalf of the professional.

Professional Malpractice Damages

Proving damages is an essential element of a professional malpractice claim. There are different types of damages, including economic and non-economic damages.

Economic damages include:

• Medical bills
• Costs of future medical care
• Lost income
• Loss of business
• Loss of earning potential
• Reputational harm
• Property damage

Professional malpractice cases can also result in harms that are more difficult to quantify. These are called non-economic damages and are generally more common in medical malpractice claims.

For example, say an avid runner suffers an amputation caused by medical negligence. In addition to the medical expenses and disability, they may suffer severe depression because they lost the ability to do something they loved. This is a type of harm that does not have a clear dollar value. Types of non-economic damages include emotional distress, pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment in life.

In some lawsuits, the court can award punitive damages, which aim to punish the professional for what they did. However, punitive damages are rarely available, except where the professional recklessly or intentionally caused the harm.

Find a Professional Malpractice Attorney

Many people don’t take legal action because they’re unsure if they have a cause of action. A professional liability lawyer can review your case and determine whether the professional’s acts or omissions were outside their professional standards. Contact a local professional malpractice attorney for legal advice.