Death Pays Well

Medical malpractice attorneys are in the business of profiting from death [1] [2]

We all know that medicine is not perfect. We also know that sick people often get worse and even die. It’s the nature of life that everybody dies someday. Getting money for death is their service. And like any properly trained attorney, they are skilled at arguing any case ruthlessly, regardless of how absurd, unjust or wrong it might be. [3]

Medical malpractice (Med Mal) attorneys keep about half of the ‘winnings’

Med Mal attorneys like to advertise that they only “get paid if you win.” However, what they do get paid is ridiculously excessive. That’s why they do this work on contingency. The reality is that their contract with the dead person’s family stipulates that they get around forty percent of the settlement. But, once their “costs” are calculated, the real number can go to is fifty percent or more.

Death is lucrative

The goal of a medical malpractice business (law firm) is to, file as many lawsuits as they can. The worse the patient is injured the better. It’s best if the ‘victim’ is dead. Their target is usually $425,000 (the average out of court settlement for wrongful death).  They don’t like to go to court- it slows down their turnover. If they do win in court, the average payoff is $1,000,000. [4]

Money from death is the easiest math of all

Their calculation is simple: 50% (percent of filings that they win) * $425,000 (average out of court settlement) & 45% (their cut) = $100,00 per case. They only spend about twenty hours of their time on each case, so that’s about $5,000 an hour. Not bad for someone who’s sole purpose is to profit from death.

The more death, the better

Knowing that their payoff is mathematical, the medical malpractice attorney’s goal is to find and sign up as many aggrieved families as possible.  That’s why you see so many advertisements looking for “victims” and promising payouts. If a med mal plaintiff's attorney can resolve six cases per year, that's $600,000. That's not a bad income for a career that creates absolutely no value (that's being kind).

Next, we’ll talk about the basic rules of the game.

[1] https://www.uschamber.com/press-release/trial-lawyer-tv-ads-medical-malpractice-lawsuits-grew-1400-percent-last-four-years

[2] https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/11/14/the-malpractice-mess

[3] https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/fairness-in-the-adversary-process-part-44689/

[4] https://attorneyatlawmagazine.com/the-average-medical-malpractice-settlement