When we think of professional malpractice in the legal sense, most tend to think of medical malpractice. While medical malpractice is one of the most common types of professional malpractice, other professionals from accountants and architects to dentists and therapists are all held to a higher standard of care. When that standard isn't met, they can be liable for failing to meet those standards of care. Filing suit against any one of these workers is what we consider a professional malpractice suit, and it can help compensate victims for any damages they may have incurred from the negligent actions of the professional. Over the last four decades, I've helped countless clients seek the justice they deserve after working with a professional who did meet the expected standard of care for their profession. These professional malpractice claims are typically based on a legal theory of negligence, which means that a jury will have to decide whether or not the professional used the appropriate level of care when performing their duties. If they did not and someone suffered losses as a result, they can be held liable for malpractice.

How does a jury decide if someone has engaged in professional malpractice?

Deciding whether or not someone used the appropriate level of care when performing their duties can be subjective. Generally speaking, the standard of care expected of a professional is a level of care that a reasonably prudent professional in that given line of work would exercise. A jury will typically examine the specific type of work that the professional performed and try to determine whether they were reasonably prudent when performing those duties. This is why it can be critical that anyone filing a professional malpractice claim have an experienced malpractice attorney working on their side to help prove their case.