What really decides whether a medical negligence claim succeeds in Australia, the lawyer you choose or the system itself? The answer is slowly starting to show its face, as more and more legal and healthcare data across the country is being looked at together. Here in Australia, picking a medical negligence lawyer Sydney CBD is no longer just about who you like or trust. Instead, it’s about comparing them on how successful they’ve been in the past, their professional history, and just how cheap they are. Across all of the different states in Australia including NSW, Victoria and Queensland, it’s becoming clear that the results of court cases and official investigations are skewed pretty heavily depending on the experience and type of support you get from your lawyer. Most people probably expect that no matter who represents them the outcome should be pretty much the same. However, the numbers tell a different story, one that you can see play out right through the entire process.
Regulatory Credentials and the Track Record of Your Lawyer
Here in Australia, lawyers who deal with the legal side of the healthcare system operate under state-based rules and are overseen by institutions such as the Medical Board of Australia and their local law societies. Year after year, we can see from official reports that fewer than 3% of solicitors get into trouble with the law. What’s interesting though is that those cases are pretty regularly tied up with clients who have had problems with their compensation. When you’re looking to hire a lawyer to handle a medical negligence case, such as a lawyer for a medical negligence case in Sydney, their disciplinary history becomes far more than just something to glance over. Data from the Australian Legal Services Commissioners shows that lawyers who have had complaints made against them in the past are about 1.8 to 2.5 times more likely to get more complaints in the future from their clients. This effect doesn’t stop there either. Cases involving lawyers who have been found to have misconduct time and again also show that it takes an extra 15% to 25% longer to settle the case. That makes a pretty big difference in how quickly you get your life back on track. In short, a lawyer’s track record is like an early warning sign of whether they are reliable or not.
Case Experience and Your Chances of Success
Medical negligence cases make up a pretty big chunk of the work done by the courts in Australia, with around 15% to 20% of all personal injury cases being about medical malpractice. Even so, those cases don’t all turn out the same way. Specialist medical negligence lawyers manage to get good results in around 65% to 80% of their cases. Generalist lawyers on the other hand, who are handling a bunch of different types of cases, will often only manage to get a good result in around 40% to 55% of their medical negligence cases. The difference is because specialist lawyers are more focused on medical negligence cases. As a result, they are way more familiar with how these claims work. Your chances of getting a fair settlement also depend a lot on your lawyer’s experience. Median settlements can be as low as AUD 250,000 to as high as AUD 1.2 million. In cases that are especially severe, such as when someone has been left with a disability, settlements can be a lot higher, AUD 3 million to AUD 5 million, depending on things like what kind of care you’ll need long term. Lawyers who have been around for over a decade and have a lot of experience with medical negligence cases tend to do a lot better. In fact, they often get results that are 25% to 35% higher than average.
Cost Structures, Fees and Economic Efficiency
Most medical negligence cases in Australia run with a “no win no fee” arrangement that 70% to 85% of personal injury firms use. Even so, costs are still the deciding factor in how much you end up with in the end. A closer look at the figures from the lawyers’ regulatory body shows that the cost of going to court can run from as little as AUD 20,000 to as much as AUD 150,000 or more for really complicated cases. And we can see that when a firm is upfront about how much they’re going to charge you, the end result is 10% to 18% more of your compensation. In other words, it makes a real difference when you know exactly how much you owe your lawyer.
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