<p>Thanks everyone for your advice; I think I’m sure I want to be a malpractice attorney now. But I have a few questions about it:</p>
<li><p>How much do they earn on average? And yes I know it depends on firm and all that jazz, so assume that I’m an above average to average lawyer working at a medium to small firm, not owned by me.</p></li>
<li><p>Would I be able to get a degree as an undergrad in biomed engineering, and still get into law school? Some say that it helps for patent and malpractice law, and others say that it ****s you up because you dont have anything related to law school</p></li>
<li><p>Would it be possible for me to be a patent and malpractice attorney specialist?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Pay also depends heavily on whether you're plaintiff or defense. If the malpractice attorney does plaintiff work, he/she could get zero out of several cases, after expending lots of time and effort (read: money). Then he/she might win a big case and take home a significant paycheck. (John Edwards made his money as a plaintiff attorney.)</p>
<p>Defendant work varies based on the client you are defending. If you work for an insurance company doing run-of-the-mill defense work for individual physician insureds, the firm gets about $160 - $180 an hour in my locale. If you work for a big insurance company defending mega cases, you can bring in far, far more. </p>
<p>This scenario is based exclusively on my experience, and I do not attempt to describe other states / venues outside of my experience.</p>
<p>I agree that it depends a LOT on what side you are representing. Also, if you can have your pick of plaintiffs, you'll make a lot. The "big-money" plaintiffs are young people that will have life-long problems as a result of the malpractice. </p>
<p>Not to preach, but do consider how you will feel about yourself in either situation. You could end up defending a sleazy doctor who messed up someone's life, or you could end up suing a perfectly good doctor because someone's baby wasn't born perfectly, through no fault of the physician. Also, as a plaintiff's attorney, you'll work on a contigency fee arrangement. You might feel great suing, for $6 million, a lousy doctor who messed up a kid for life (who needs lifelong care because of it), but you'll probably feel pretty lousy when you take $2 million the money that a little kid needs for her care.</p>
<p>As for malpractice law & patent law, well, most people don't split their time between two specialities. If you are interested in both, I would suggest health law/patent law - i.e. the patenting of medical devices or working on FDA approval for drugs and devices. It's a very small field, by the way. I don't know how malpractice specifically fits with patent law - the fact that something is patented or patentable doesn't really change the issue of whether or not the company was negligent in its design. </p>
<p>Anyway, if you are looking for information, google "health law" and not "malpractice law."</p>
<p>ariesathena makes a good point - physicians do not like to call it "malpractice". I've been involved with this field for 15 years, and I have not once met a physician who ever committed malpractice. Not once. They have bad equipment, work with terrible nurses, and have litigious patients. But they never commit malpractice. </p>
<p>And if you think I'm cynical, just work in the field for a year or so.</p>