Jul 24, 2020
In today’s episode of Butter Torts: A truly Canadian Legal Podcast, Charles Gluckstein, is interviewing Richard Halpern, who is a senior lawyer acting exclusively for injured people in medical negligence cases, with a special focus on infants injured at or around the time of birth. Richard is known across Canada for his expertise in birth injury cases. He has more than 30 years of experience representing seriously injured people and now he has joined the Gluckstein Lawyers family.
Richard Halpern shares his expertise, detailing step by step the process of birth trauma cases and medical malpractice in general. Richard thoughtfully explains how a case goes from the initial stage, when parents approach a lawyer looking for answers, through the investigation and discovery phases, finding what happened in the specific medical situation. Richard shares how it is to select and work along with the right experts, and how a case is conducted until the pre-trial and trial take place.
Key Takeaways:
[1:34] Richard talks about his professional expertise: medical malpractice litigation.
[2:16] What kind of cases Richard attended in his first years of practice?
[3:45] Richard shares how he transitioned from general practice to medical malpractice.
[5:55] In medical malpractice cases, all the people being examined are experts in an area that the lawyer isn't.
[7:47] Richard explains how he became so strong in Obstetrical Medicine.
[10:58] The biggest challenge facing birth trauma cases is establishing the mechanism of injury, its timing, and if there is something that could have been done to prevent the outcome.
[11:58] Richard talks about how he approaches a possible case of birth injury from the beginning.
[14:50] How long does the investigation stage last?
[17:12] It is essential to have a chronological understanding of all of the important clinical events, lab findings, and symptoms.
[19:39] The next step on a birth trauma case after the investigation process is to tell the parents what happened to their baby.
[22:32] How many clients have a legitimate valid case of medical malpractice where it can be proved it was an avoidable injury?
[24:07] What does it really mean for a lawyer to be an advocate for his client?
[24:59] Richard shares how he built up his expert database and how it has evolved over time.
[28:43] Richard talks about the different strategies a lawyer can use with regard to selecting the correct experts.
[31:21] What does the client’s road look like from discovery to pre-trial?
[34:45] Richard explains how to deal with the theories the defence presents.
[37:18] Always adopt best practices at first.
[38:10] The Holland Law Group, a group of senior medical malpractice lawyers.
[40:27] How to deal with multiple tortfeasors in medical malpractice.
[45:50] Richard talks about a birth injury trial that didn’t go his way and the lessons taught by it.
[50:40] Rapid fire questions.
[53:03] Richard talks about his favorite recipe.
Mentioned in this episode:
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Richard shares his favorite recipe: