Injury Insight Podcast

Takeaways

• Attorney’s fees in medical malpractice cases are subject to statutory limits.
• Disbursements are costs that attorneys lay out on behalf of clients to investigate the case.
• The costs of bringing a medical malpractice case can quickly add up to $150,000 or more.
• Liens may need to be repaid out of any monetary recovery in a medical malpractice case.
• Medical malpractice case recoveries are generally not taxable, but there are other costs to consider.
• Borrowing money against a case can result in high interest rates and significant repayment amounts.
• It is important to discuss all costs with a lawyer and not rely on early case valuations.

Chapters

• 00:00 Understanding the Costs of Bringing a Medical Malpractice Case
• 02:18 The High Costs of Bringing a Medical Malpractice Case to Trial
• 03:15 Liens: Repaying Medical Providers and Insurance Companies
• 03:44 Taxes and Other Costs in Medical Malpractice Cases
• 04:41 Borrowing Money Against a Case: Potential Pitfalls
• 05:14 Importance of Discussing Costs with a Lawyer

Transcript

(00:01.422)
Welcome to Injury Insight, the podcast that unravels the stories behind personal injury and medical malpractice lawsuits, examines the science behind the claims, and spotlights the fight for justice in the healthcare system. Your host for the podcast is Mike Duffy, a practicing attorney with over 25 years of experience.

(00:51.288)
Today we’re going to talk about the costs of bringing a medical malpractice case. Certainly one of the costs is the attorney’s fee. In New York, there are statutory limits on how much an attorney may charge, what percentage an attorney may charge. This becomes a complicated issue. The statute provides for a variety of different things that are best left to discussing directly with your lawyer. But the reality is that there is a political effort.

to prevent lawyers from taking these cases. So you need to talk to your lawyer about what the charges are and how that plays into their decision to take your case or not to take your case. The long and short is that by limiting the amount of money an attorney may make in a case, attorneys are less likely to take certain cases. But there are more costs than just the attorney’s fees. There are what are called disbursements. Disbursements are costs that in most instances

the attorney is going to lay out on your behalf to investigate the case, to pay for medical records, to pay experts for their time and their reviews, to pay court filing fees, to pay virtually everything that goes along with bringing a lawsuit. In a medical malpractice case, those costs compile up very quickly. Given the nature of medicine and the need, as we’ve talked about in other episodes, to bring on

medical experts into any case, the costs can run up to $150 ,000 or $200 ,000 a case just to get the case to trial and to resolution. That money ultimately comes off the top of any resolution. So if the attorney is going to bring a case that’s only worth $100 ,000 but that has $200 ,000 associated with the costs,

That’s probably not going to be a case the attorney wants to bring and it’s probably not a case you’re going to want to bring because at the end you’re not going to get any money. Other costs that come into play are liens. This is where a medical provider, the state of New York or any state or the federal government or an insurance company has paid out money on your behalf for medical care. They want their money back if you are going to recover money associated with that medical care. Those costs will come out of any

(03:15.136)
monies you might receive. There are generally no taxes associated with medical malpractice case recoveries or any personal injury recovery. The law looks at this as a replacement cost. They took your arm and they replaced it with money, so they don’t look at it as a taxable event. But there are these costs. At the end, the most important thing is that you need to talk to your lawyer and make sure you understand

all of the costs that go into these cases, all of the things that you can expect to see, and how at the end it impacts you. Caution. Any lawyer who tells you what your case is worth before they have finished their discovery, before they have taken depositions and fully analyzed their case, is not telling you the truth. They’re telling you what they think you want to hear in order to get you to sign the retainer. And then five or six years down the line, they’ll tell you that, sorry, we couldn’t do that.

If any lawyer tells you that, they’re not telling the truth. Another cost that frequently happens is if you borrow money against your case. Many clients will come and say, I’ve heard commercials where you can borrow money to pay your living expenses during the course of a case. If the case recovers, you’ll have to pay that money back and you’ll have to pay back the interest. Many of those loans, which are called non -recourse loans, carry with them

interest rates of 1 to 2 percent a month compounded. So a $10 ,000 loan after four or five years can be a $150 ,000 or $200 ,000 payback. You have to be very, very careful with that. Your lawyer should tell you about that. So if you’re contemplating a lawsuit, a medical malpractice lawsuit, and you’re not sure if the case is one, the costs make it worthwhile, give us a call and we’ll

We’ll try to explain it to you and see if we can help you out on that particular case.

(05:14.638)
This podcast is for entertainment and educational information only. Nothing said here should be construed as constituting legal advice, nor does it imply any relationship between the listener and Duffy and Duffy law. If you have any questions about a personal injury or medical malpractice issue you are facing and want to see if you have a case, please contact Duffy and Duffy to schedule a confidential consultation. You can call us at 516 -259 -3775.

or email Mike Duffy at mduffy@duffyduffylaw.com and we’ll get back to you quickly.