LiabilityEnglish-speaking medical negligence lawyer in Spain

Not every bad outcome is negligence

Medicine is an obligation of means, not of results. Negligence requires a departure from the lex artis, the professional standard applicable at the time, and a causal link with the harm suffered.

For that reason we never file a claim without a prior medical opinion. An unfavourable expert report obtained early saves you a case that was lost before it started, and it costs a fraction of the litigation.

Criminal, civil or administrative

The criminal route requires gross negligence and rarely succeeds. The civil route (private healthcare) or the administrative route (public healthcare) compensates more broadly and applies a different standard of proof. The choice is made case by case, always with the limitation periods in mind, because they are short and unforgiving.

What we need from you

The complete medical records, operating notes and evidence of the losses suffered. If you do not have the records yet, we request them for you.

A bad outcome is not the same as negligence

Medicine is an obligation of means, not of results. A claim requires a departure from the lex artis, the professional standard applicable at the time and in those circumstances, and a causal link between that departure and the harm suffered. Complications that were properly warned about and properly managed are not negligence, however devastating they feel.

For that reason we never file a claim without a prior medical opinion. An unfavourable expert report obtained early costs a fraction of the litigation and saves you a case that was lost before it started. We would rather tell you that in the first month than in the third year.

Criminal, civil or administrative

The criminal route requires gross negligence and rarely succeeds; it is emotionally satisfying and legally unproductive in most cases. The civil route applies to private healthcare, and the administrative route to the public health service. Both compensate more broadly and apply a different standard of proof.

The choice is made case by case, and always with the limitation periods in mind. They are short, they run from different moments depending on the route, and missing them ends the matter regardless of the merits.

Informed consent

A frequently decisive point, and one clients rarely think of. If the risk that materialised was never explained to you, or the consent form was signed in the corridor minutes before surgery, or it was in Spanish and nobody translated it, there may be liability even where the treatment itself was faultless.

What we need: the complete medical records, operating notes, and evidence of the losses suffered. If you do not have the records, we request them on your behalf.