Mississippi from the Inside Out
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Who Are We?
There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to
be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.
-- John Adams
Copyright 2000-2009. Bay Israel Chitrikar Keller Iglesias . All rights reserved.
What is Medical and Dental Specialty Digital Discovery?
Discovery is how lawyers find out what sort of case they have. All clients think they have a winner, on both sides. No longer are trials "shoot from the hip" Perry Mason surprise mysteries. In order to "discover" the actual facts of the case, after a lawsuit has been filed, lawyers (if they are doing their job)
- propound interrogatories, written questions the other side must answer
- depose the opposition's witnesses, the actual plaintiff, and expert witnesses in live recorded interviews
- subpoena relevant documents
- request examination of evidence exhibits the other side intends to introduce at trial.
"Digital" means we film the depositions, scan documents, and record interviews in a digital format, that the doctor or dental specialist may see and hear the actual witnesses that they may be facing in court, that they may best decide whether to settle the lawsuit, and if so, for how much.
Sometimes, a physician or dental specialist will decide they want to go forward, after seeing the "ammunition" arrayed against them.
We do case evaluation, using industry criteria. If you like, we will help prepare you for deposition, trial preparation, and even go to trial with your insurance counsel, as a 'second chair'.
Our strength is that we are trained in Alternative Dispute Resolution and Negotiation skills, and are both a doctor (Eric Hoggatt, DDS), a lawyer (Victoria Johnson Hoggatt), assisted by one of the finest, most agreeable negotiators (Ethan Eric Hoggatt) imaginable. We understand firsthand the trauma that a doctor and his family feel when she/he is faced with a patient who is accusing him/her of wrongdoing.
We will let you know if we think the discovery indicates medical or dental malpractice by AMA or ADA standard of care. If so, we recommend you propose a reasonable settlement. That is what you pay malpractice insurance premiums for. To compensate the patient should you inadvertently hurt someone.
The interest of your malpractice insurance carrier may conflict with yours. You may have strong feelings that you wish to go to trial, if you think the claim is bogus. The insurance carrier may be looking at the least expensive way out.
We can save the insurance carrier a lot of money pre-trial or settlement, because we know dentistry and legal medicine, without having to start from scratch. We have access to local specialists who may serve as expert witness, who are not "professional" litigation doctors. We can assist with trial strategy.
The most unique part of Hoggattlaw's practice, is that we visit the doctor in his or her office, or someplace they feel more comfortable than a law office. As a dentist, working on shysters, excuse me, trial lawyers, makes Eric Hoggatt uncomfortable, let alone going to the lawyer's office. We encourage the professional to participate in his or her defense, by telling us why the answers to the interrogatories are wrong, how can the case be proven, etc.
Friends of the Hoggatts includes oral surgeons, pediatric dentists, gynecologists, pediatricians. Victoria Johnson Hoggatt's brother, Warren T. (Ted) Johnson, Jr. is the past president of the Tennessee Association of Orthodontists, and Eric Hoggatt, DDS has both an uncle who is a dentist in Monroe, Louisiana, a first cousin who is a Louisianan orthodontist, and a great uncle who practiced in Houma, Louisiana.
If requested, we will also film the doctor and his witnesses, so that they may evaluate how they might appear to a jury. The vast majority of dental and medical malpractice suits are settled out of court, which is where negotiation skills are most valuable. Victoria Johnson Hoggatt is trained by S.A.B. Negotiations in Alternative Dispute Resolution and is an approved mediator on the Mississippi Supreme Court's panel of approved mediators for Court Annexed Mediation for Civil Litigation in Circuit, Chancery, and County courts, as well as appellate mediation. Victoria Hoggatt speaks Spanish.
Eric Hoggatt is a mediator specializing in dental and medical professional liability and pro sports transactional agreements, trained by the University of Mississippi. As former captain of Mississippi State University's football team, he speaks injuries, longevity, Southern, and athlete.
It it is " the policy of the courts of the State of Mississippi to encourage the peaceable resolution of disputes and early settlement of pending litigation by voluntary action of the parties".
