How To Become A Malpractice Attorney?

Medical malpractice lawyers usually work for big hospitals, insurance companies or open their own private practice.  Their job function is to litigate lawsuits due to negligent conduct of healthcare providers ( i.e. doctors, nurses, dentists and anestheiologists).  This might consist of injury caused by mistakes during operations or injuries sustained from therapy procedures.

Becoming a medical malpractice lawyer is a long 7 year journey.  This includes a lot of school and two standardized tests. To learn more about this journey read below.

Bachelor’s Degree

Your first step in your journey is obtaining a bachelors degree.  You don’t have to pick a specific undergraduate major to go to law school; however, lots of people choose degrees in political science or history.

LSAT

Admission to law school is heavily dependent on two things Law School Admission Test (LSAT) scores and undergraduate GPA.  The LSAT, tests a student’s critical-thinking, analytical and logic abilities.  Law schools that  are approved by the American Bar Association require LSAT scores to be submitted by applicants during the admissions process.

Law School

The third step is law school.  Law school, which will earn you a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree, normally takes three years of study.  Throughout the first year of study, law students finish courses in law, contracts, and torts.  Medical malpractice law concentrates on torts.  During the second and third years of study, they finish elective courses in areas including: corporate taxation and trial advocacy.  Both of these courses are useful for medical malpractice lawyers when brokering settlements or presenting cases to arbitrators or juries.

Internship
Many law schools offer internships for law students.  Each of these programs provides law students hands on experience with practicing law.

Health or Medical-Law Courses
Second and third year law students are able to take courses in health law, which offer an summary of regulations and health rules.  This understanding provides the foundation towards becoming a medical malpractice lawyer.

Bar Exam

The fourth step is passing the bar exam after completing law school.  To become a certified lawyer, students must pass the bar exam of the state they wish to practice in.  The exam’s format differs in every state.

If you fail the bar exam, you cannot practice law.  This is why preparing for the bar exam is important. Preparing for the exam can take weeks and even months.  Many companies offer their fresh graduates study programs that are intended to help students pass the bar exam.

Employment

The final step is finding employment as a medical malpractice lawyer.  After passing a bar exam, an individual is licensed to practice in every area of law enforcement.  Individuals wanting to clinic medical malpractice can do this by joining a law firm that specializes in medical malpractice and personal injury cases.  Another option is opening a law practice that focuses on medical malpractice law.

As you can see the journey towards becoming a medical malpractice lawyer is a long one.  It is a seven year journey with lots of sleepless nights of studying.  In the end, you will be rewarded with a law degree and a career in a field that is held in high esteem.