Finding the Right Attorney
Are physicians better off with an MD/JD or a career attorney?
Being represented by a bad attorney is often worse than not being represented at all. This is especially true for physicians who are the victims of sham peer review. Although the idea of being represented by Marcus Welby MD/JD might seem like a good idea, in most cases a doctor would be better served by a career attorney with significant experience in administrative, credentialing and regulatory matters.
Many physicians suffer from a “God-complex.” This does not change when physicians become lawyers. Defrocked physicians with new law degrees often lack the intellectual curiosity and humility that young lawyers bring after passing the bar. Some MD/JDs rely on their considerable egos to compensate for legal inexperience. As a result, physician-clients often waste thousands of dollars with disappointing results.
Why anyone would seek out an MD/JD to represent them puzzles me. Doctors are trained as clinicians. None of the MD/JDs I have met have ever impressed me with their legal skills. As a potential client facing the very real likelihood of losing your medical career, you should ask yourself two questions:
1. Why would a medical doctor give up medicine to practice law?
2. Does 20 years as an MD bestow competence to JD’s who possess limited legal experience?
In the case of one MD/JD who was defrocked for “unprofessional, dishonorable or unethical conduct… gross and repeated malpractice, ignorance or incompetence,” it is difficult to imagine why anyone would believe that such a physician would suddenly become a competent attorney. Long after his negligence almost killed a ten-year-old boy he continued to express dismay as to why his medical staff privileges were suspended.
There is no reason to believe that an incompetent or unethical physician would make a competent and ethical lawyer. If you wish to make a complaint later on, your attorney’s written statements could be important.
If you’ve found an MD/JD who impresses you, you should ask the following questions before sending him a $15,000 retainer. His answers should be in writing:
1. Was his medical license suspended or revoked? If so, ask him for a copy of his medical board record.
2. How long has he practiced law?
3. How many cases has he litigated?
4. Of those, how many cases has he won?
Finally, ask yourself whether you would seek a two-year resident to perform heart surgery if you knew he practiced law for 25 years? Although the physical ramifications are more immediate, the damage that a defrocked physician can do to your case who has limited legal experience can just as easily kill your professional career.
The defense and litigation of medical credentialing issues requires a talented attorney with experience who knows the law, which is something that you won’t find in any inexperienced lawyer whether they have an MD or not. At the same time, there are MANY career lawyers who understand the choreography of sham peer review and how to prevail. In most cases, MD/JDs are not always as talented as they might seem. Knowledge of clinical medicine should never be confused with knowledge of the law.
Clark Baker is a licensed private investigator and a retired member of the Los Angeles Police Department. He has conducted thousands of criminal and civil investigations and has worked with dozens of attorneys and prosecutors. He now works primarily in the field of pharmaceutical and healthcare misconduct cases.
Tags: attorney, defrocked physician, Ralph Bard, Sham Peer Review, Tennessee
June 26th, 2009 at 9:30 am
[...] of HCQIA and peer review, SSI no longer promotes the use of career doctors who become lawyers for the same reason that we would not encourage surgery by a career lawyer who becomes a surgeon. When it comes to peer [...]