Chapter 9

1. Are professionals held to a local or national standard of care?

2. Is a professional negligent by definition of the client experiences a negative outcome?

3. Is a professional negligent if she chooses a course of action that is different from the one that many other professionals would have chosen?

4. List at least five ways that a professional can commit malpractice

5. To what standard of care is a specialist held?

6. What does the informed-consent doctrine require doctors to disclose?

7. What is the difference between a negligence and a battery cause of action based on failure to inform?

8. what is a plaintiff alleging malpractice required to prove?

9. Must a plaintiff's negligence add to or be concurrent with a defendant professionals negligence for the defendant to be relieved of liability?

10. What does a professional who decides to allege contributory negligence usually argue?

11. Under what conditions can patient be said to have assumed the risk?

12. When is the defense of emergency a viable defense to a claim of negligence? When is it not?

13. Why is it important for professionals to maintain adequate records?

14. To whom do medical records belong? When do defendants have a right to these records?

15. Are professional negligence suits increasing or decreasing?

a. What percentage of legal malpractice claims become insurance claims?

b. How many claims are filed against most attorneys?

C. Do most of these claims result in recovery of damages?

D. What kind of attorney is most likely to be sued and what typed of error does this attorney typically commit?

16. What are the primary reasons for most legal malpractice claims?

17. What can attorneys do to prevent professional negligence suits?

18. What communications does the attorney-client privilege protect?

a. how is this privilege waived?

b. who is subject to this privilege?

c. What should legal assistants do to preserve this privilege protect?

19. what types of activities constitute unauthorized practice of law?

a. why is it important that attorneys review all of the work produced by their legal assistants?

b. How does the relationship legal assistants have with clients complied the issue of unauthorized practice of law?

20. Why is it important for legal assistants

a. to promote good client relations?

b. to create well-organized files?

c. to handle client monies carefully?

d. to meet all filing dates?

21. Are medical malpractice claims increasing or decreasing?

22. What have some states done in an effort to reduce the number of medical malpractice claims?