Legal justice lies in hands of the slick, rich(2)

A more credible, honest lawyer, who offers free legal advice once a week at a local coffee house in the neighborhood of Highland Park, told me the case was complicated, not because it lacked merit, but because the complexities that surrounded it.

Based in Pasadena, attorney Neil Fraser told me that even though the case could be filed, because in California the law allows medical malpractice discovery three years after a wrong is found, lawyers of Beverly Hills-based Cedars Sinai could, and most likely, will argue that the case lacks merit on the basis of the pre-condition of my brother, and the serious injuries that surrounded the case. They would ask the judge to dismiss the complaint.

Fraser said the Cedars’ lawyers could also argue, and probably successfully, that two years have gone since Ernesto’s passing, and any possible wrongful death finding should have been filed at least one year after his death. Even though I possess all my brother’s medical record while he stayed at Cedars Sinai, a medical expert must study them to ensure there was malpractice, or medical pitfalls in the post-surgical treatment before filing a lawsuit.

Fraser declined to take my brother’s case. However, he advised me to consult another lawyer whom may be willing to work on it.

That’s when I realized that in order for me to levy a legal war against Cedars Sinai, I would have to pay many thousands of dollars to someone willing to work in this thorny legal matter. And depending on the strengths and weaknesses of my case, and the ability of my lawyer to bring all the evidence, and to convince the judge, or a jury, a ruling in my brother’s favor is unsure at best.

I also called David Geffen, another lawyer who works on American with Disabilities cases. His secretary politely explained me his practice does not take medical malpractice cases.

Having explained all these matters, I haven’t quit on the case. I still cling to a flickering flame of hope that someone, out of real professional commitment to reach a small, albeit late victory in the name of the disabled community in Los Angeles, can help me push past the legal challenge Ernesto’s medical case has brought to me.

Because if Ernesto’s matter is not even filed as it should in a court of law, there will be no legal precedent that would help prevent potentially deadly medical situations from happening again in L.A. hospitals. Particularly against the fragile and disabled. And no one would be held accountable for their medical faults.