Oregon medical malpractice lawyers who spent decades defending hospitals.
Most plaintiff's firms turn medical cases away. They are expensive, the medicine is technical, and institutional defendants admit nothing. Our practice is led by an attorney who spent nearly thirty years on the defense side of these exact cases.
Hospitals do not admit liability. They are built not to.
A bad outcome is not automatically malpractice. But when a real error happens, the institution's first move is to characterize it as a known complication that was disclosed in the consent paperwork. That defense is prepared long before you ever call a lawyer.
The records take months to produce. The medicine requires independent experts. The hospital's insurer will not pay a claim voluntarily, and it counts on most firms lacking the resources or the stomach to see a medical case through.
Winning these cases requires knowing exactly how the institution defends them. That is not knowledge most plaintiff's lawyers have. It is knowledge we built over twenty-five years inside those institutions.
What to do next.
Request your complete medical records.
You have a right to them. Get the full file, not a summary. We help you identify what is missing and push to get it released.
Write down the timeline while it is fresh.
Who said what, and when. Dates of treatment, symptoms, and conversations matter. Memory fades and records get sanitized.
Do not sign anything from the hospital's risk department.
If someone from the hospital asks you to sign a release or give a statement, talk to us first. It is rarely in your interest.
Talk to a firm that actually takes medical cases.
Many firms will not. We will tell you honestly whether your case has the merits, the experts, and the value to pursue.
We know which arguments work against a hospital, because we used to make them.
Senior partner Drake Hood spent nearly thirty years defending hospital systems, physicians, and corporations in wrongful death and serious injury litigation. He knows where the records get held up and how to push them loose. He knows which defendants settle and which want a trial date.
That is the difference in a medical case. The body of work transferred when he switched sides. The role did not. Now he uses the same playbook he spent a career building, for the patients and families on the other end of it.
Senior partner Drake Hood is a former president of the Oregon Association of Defense Counsel and an ABOTA member. For nearly thirty years he defended the institutions you are now up against.
Meet Drake Hood →Birth injury verdict
A $1.7 million verdict in a birth injury case against a major Northwest hospital system. Medically complex cases are exactly the work most firms avoid and we are built for.
Common questions.
How long do I have to file a medical malpractice claim in Oregon?
Generally two years from when you knew or reasonably should have known about the injury, with an outer limit that can cut off older claims. Deadlines in medical cases are complicated, so talk to a lawyer as soon as you suspect a problem.
Is a bad outcome the same as malpractice?
No. Medicine carries real risk, and not every bad result is negligence. Malpractice means a provider fell below the accepted standard of care and that failure caused harm. We evaluate that honestly before taking a case.
Do I need a medical expert?
Yes. Oregon medical negligence cases require qualified expert testimony to establish the standard of care and how it was breached. We retain the right specialists for your specific injury.
What will it cost me?
Nothing up front. We advance the costs of experts and records and work on contingency. No fee unless we win.
Talk to a lawyer who knows the other side.
Free consultation. No fee unless we win. We tell you exactly where you stand.