Virginia recently changed its laws related to medical malpractice cases. The new law requires that the lawyer certify that he has an expert witness in the appropriate specialty who will testify that the defendant violated the standard of care before serving the lawsuit. This law is actually a good thing. Now, there will be fewer lawsuits filed by lawyers who are not really experienced medical malpractice lawyers. Our firm would only file a lawsuit once we already have an expert in hand, so this changes little for us. One of the things that makes us exceptional medical malpractice plaintiff’s lawyers is having a rolodex with the names of many excellent good doctors who are prepared to review the chart of another physician and offer testimony in the right case.
In the past, I believe there were lawsuits filed by attorneys who didn’t really know what they were doing, hoping to try to get an early settlement. Medical malpractice cases typically do not settle without the plaintiff showing their cards, meaning identifying their experts. The difference between winning and losing is the strenghth and preparation of the lawyer and the plaintiff’s expert doctors. When you pick an attorney, you need to make sure you have someone who really knows medical malpractice and does it regularly, rather than just dabbling in it on occasion. One thing that we do at our firm is to go to other attorneys who recognize that they do not have the experience and staff to properly handle a medical malpractice case and ask them to work with us on their potential cases. We have had good success at developing a good reputation as the medical malpractice lawyers that many other lawyers use to handle these cases. The new Virginia statute just emphasizes how important it is to have a lawyer who focuses their practice on this field so that all the legal requirements can properly be met.
Rick Shapiro has practiced personal injury law for over 30 years in Virginia, North Carolina, and throughout the Southeastern United States. He is a Board-Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (ABA Accredited) and has litigated injury cases throughout the eastern United States, including wrongful death, trucking, faulty products, railroad, and medical negligence claims. During his three-decade career, Shapiro has won client appeals before the VA Supreme Court, VA Court of Appeals, NC Supreme Court, SC Supreme Court, WV Supreme Court, TN Supreme Court, and three times before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, underscoring Shapiro’s trial achievements. In addition, he and his law firm have won settlements/verdicts in excess of $100 million. His success in and out of the courtroom is a big reason why he was named 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” in railroad law in U.S. News & World Report's Best Lawyers publication (Norfolk, VA area), and he has been named a “Best Lawyer” and “Super Lawyer” by those peer-reviewed organizations for multiple years. Rick was also named a “Leader in the Law, Class of 2022” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly (total of 33 statewide honorees consisting of lawyers and judges across Virginia). And in September 2023, Rick was selected as a recipient of the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) 2023 President’s Award. Although many nominations were submitted from across the country, Rick was just one of eight attorneys chosen by the prestigious National Board which certifies civil trial attorneys across the U.S. Rick was also recently named to Virginia Lawyers Weekly 2024 Virginia’s Go To Lawyers Medical Malpractice. The attorneys awarded this honor are nominated by their colleagues and chosen by a panel from the publication.
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