The birth of a special needs child will forever change your life. I did custom woodworking for a living prior to Katie's birth. I had several other carpenters working for me and I made a good living. That all changed the day Katie was born.

 

I walked away from my business and gave away my tools. I stayed at home to care for Katie.

 

As Katie progressed, so did I. I retrained myself in computer science and landed a job teaching night school at Computer Tech in Pittsburgh. It was while teaching some 10 years after Katie was born that I met a student whose daughter had just had some complications during childbirth. I advised her to seek a legal opinion and not to wait like we had because the statute of limitations was only 2 years.

 

The student did seek legal advice and then asked me where I got the 2 year limitation on filing a lawsuit. I actually learned of the 2 year limitation when many years after Katie's birth I ran into one of the doctors that had cared for her when she was born and in our discussion I mentioned that I was going to speak with an attorney about establishing a trust fund for Katie. It was this doctor who informed me that the statute of limitations had expired for any type of lawsuit.

 

Lied to again! I suppose that when I mentioned speaking to an attorney on a related matter he went into a defensive mode and was actually trying to dissuade me from speaking to an attorney because surely a doctor of neonatology knows the statues surrounding his practice; particularly if he's been in other lawsuits.

 

When I was corrected and found out that the statute of limitations was actually 2 years after Katie's eighteenth birthday I began trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. I re-examined all of the facts surrounding her birth and made the decision to seek a legal opinion of her birth. After all it wouldn't cost me anything, and at the very least it would be peace of mind knowing that I had done everything that I could for Katie.

 

Contacting an attorney wasn't easy for us. We are not the type of people that want to be involved in the legal system and we had never spoken with an attorney before. It was a stressful decision but one that we had to make for Katie's sake.

 

I new that my student was very thorough in her decision of who to speak with, but I double checked his credentials anyway and decided to talk with the same attorney; Actually it is an entire law firm; not too big but not a small operation of only a couple of attorney's. I deliberately wanted to avoid the largest corporate style firms where we would be just a number to them and I certainly didn't want a one man operation. I wanted an attorney who was successful in his practice but not arrogant and one who could speak in layman's terms and not confuse me.

 

Our attorney was everything that we had hoped for and more. Personality and trust play a large role in the selection of an attorney. Don't be overly impressed that an individual has a law degree; attorneys are a "dime a dozen". You're going to have to ask some tough questions. What is the firm’s track record? Who will be working on the case? You're actually buying the services of a complete team and if there isn't a complete team of multiple attorneys’, paralegals, secretaries and other support staff who specialize specifically and only in medical malpractice find another firm. You will only have one chance to do this correctly. As difficult as this is for you, it is equally difficult for them and it is a job that if done correctly requires many people.

 

The formality of a law firm can be intimidating. The firm we chose was not overly formal like the type you see in the movies or on court television shows. It was comfortable and personable on an upper floor of an office building. The staff got along like family, everyone we met was very nice. All of the attorney's doors were open and they all made a point of saying hello or introducing themselves to us. There were pictures of children on the walls that they had helped. The decor was professional but not pretentious or overdone with judges paneling, formal libraries and multiple conference rooms. All of this was comforting in a stressful situation.

 

Speaking with our attorney was like speaking with an old friend. It was like putting on your favorite pair of shoes; the fit was just right. We were probably a little lucky in receiving what we feel was a good referral. If you don't feel this way with an attorney, interview another one.

 

Don't expect your attorney to speak of dollar figures or the amount of compensation that may be offered; they don't know. You are not even in that ballpark yet. Offers to settle a claim can only be made by the defendent not your attorney so it will do no good to ask.

 

Our initial contact was actually handled by a young woman who was a nurse and is a paralegal. She proved to be both professional and thorough in her questioning and initial fact finding in the events surrounding Katie's birth. I had previously spoken to her on the telephone and it was a pleasure to meet her.

 

You will be asked to sign a release of medical information and perhaps some additional forms so that the firm can begin the fact finding process and obtain all relevant medical records. A brief overview of the process may be offered beginning with the review of the records in looking for any evidence of errors or mistakes that may have been made.

 

Don't expect answers to come quickly. It takes a lot of time to obtain medical records, reconstruct exactly what happened into a timeframe and sort through the facts and evidence.

 

In our case the hospital claimed to have lost records and dragged their feet every opportunity that they could and even went as far as to withhold vital records until the night before an important court hearing, slowing the process further. They then negligently failed to notify their insurance company of the pending lawsuit which created another serious problem. Their insurance company was refusing to cover them on the claim and their second insurance company had already gone into bankruptcy. This hospital is one of the largest in Pittsburgh with a very large obstetrical practice.

 

Be prepared to have patience; you don't need to call your attorney every week. These answers come slowly. They will let you know when they have all of the records and information.

 

Once the gathering of the records is complete, they will need to be examined by medical experts so that they can determine if a mistake was made. Copies of the records will be sent to some of the best experts in the country for their review and opinion on the medical events surrounding your child's birth. They will be objective in their review and state whether or not they believe a mistake was made or if your child's injury could have been prevented. Again, these individuals are also practicing doctors and other professionals who must review these records in addition to performing their daily work. Expect this to take some time and you're attorney will tell you when they receive the expert opinions back.

 

At times the amount of time required seemed ages long for us. You want answers but are afraid of what might be said, all at the same time. For us the whole process dredged up emotions that had been set aside for years and caused us to relive those experiences. Betsy cried all over again in thinking that maybe Katie's injury was because of something that she had done or not done. In going through this, we found that it was a really good idea to have an attorney who was completely objective in his fact finding because we were now too emotional to make objective, rational decisions concerning Katie’s birth.

 

We found it best to initiate the case and forget about it as best as possible, allowing our attorney’s to do their job and let them contact us.

 

There will come a time when the answers do come and you will meet in the office to discuss the finding of the medical experts. These opinions will be what they are and they may be viewed as either good news or bad by you.

 

For us, the news was bad and getting worse.

 

This was a time when I was really glad that we had chosen our particular law firm. Our attorney and his team became our confidants and through their collective experience helped us to look beyond what was happening with the case at this moment and instead how to focus on how to meet Katie’s future needs. They were able to give us direction that had been previously unknown to us and for which, regardless of the outcome of the case, Katie was going to better for.