Professional Liability and Medical Malpractice Defense
Professional liability and medical malpractice cases are built on a foundation that goes far beyond the law — technical standards, professional conduct, and expert opinion all shape how these cases are argued and ultimately decided. Getting it right demands the ability to absorb complex technical facts, identify the arguments that will resonate, and build a case that holds up under rigorous scrutiny.
With decades of combined experience in complex litigation, JPM Law represents doctors, lawyers, architects, and accountants facing litigation in the courtroom and in connection with licensing and administrative proceedings. Our attorneys understand the complexities and nuances of these matters. Whether at the negotiating table or in the courtroom, we’ll work aggressively to uphold your rights and safeguard your interests, no matter the nature or scope of the matter.
Professional Liability Representation
JPM Law represents clients across the entire spectrum of professional liability claims.
- Legal Malpractice: Clients who believe their attorney mishandled a matter can sue for negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, conflict of interest, or missed deadlines.
- Accountant and Financial Professional Liability: Claims against accountants, CPAs, financial advisors, and tax preparers typically involve errors in financial reporting, negligent tax advice, failure to detect fraud, or breach of fiduciary duty.
- Insurance Agent and Broker Liability: When a policyholder suffers an uninsured or underinsured loss, they frequently look to their agent or broker. Claims typically allege failure to procure adequate coverage, failure to advise on coverage gaps, or errors in policy placement.
- Real Estate Agent and Broker Liability: Real estate professionals often face claims of misrepresentation, failure to disclose known defects, inaccurate appraisals, and transaction errors. Oklahoma’s disclosure requirements create specific obligations that plaintiffs often seek to exploit in these cases.
- Architect and Engineer Liability: Design professionals face claims arising from alleged errors in plans and specifications, construction oversight failures, and cost overruns tied to design defects.
- Miscellaneous Errors and Omissions: We defend notaries, title agents, staffing firms, property managers, travel agents, and other licensed professionals against negligence and errors-and-omissions claims.
Medical Malpractice Representation
JPM Law is also well-equipped to litigate a wide range of medical negligence claims, including those that involve:
- Misdiagnosis and failure to diagnose: These cases turn on what a provider knew, when they knew it, and whether their clinical reasoning met the standard expected under the circumstances.
- Surgical errors and wrong-site surgery: Surgery carries known risks, and not every complication is evidence of negligence. The central question in these cases is where the line falls between an unavoidable adverse outcome and a preventable error.
- Medication and prescription errors: These claims often involve a complex chain of events spanning multiple providers and systems. Establishing where a breakdown occurred — and whether it rose to the level of negligence — requires meticulous review of records, protocols, and professional standards.
- Failure to treat and delayed treatment: Clinical decision-making involves judgment calls made with incomplete information under real-time pressure. These cases hinge on whether a provider’s course of action fell outside the range of what a competent professional would have done in the same situation.
- Anesthesia errors: Anesthesia care involves constant monitoring and rapid adjustment throughout a procedure. Litigating these claims requires an in-depth analysis of anesthetic standards, patient risk factors, and the specific decisions made before, during, and after administration.
- Birth injuries and labor and delivery claims: Labor and delivery involve rapidly changing conditions and decisions made under significant pressure. These cases are technically complex, emotionally charged, and require experts with deep knowledge of obstetric and neonatal standards of care.
- Failure to obtain informed consent: Under Oklahoma law, a provider’s duty to disclose extends to all material risks and medically reasonable alternatives, regardless of whether the physician recommends them. These claims require careful analysis of what was communicated and withheld, and whether the gap between them affected the patient’s decision to proceed.
- Post-operative and follow-up care failures: Inadequate monitoring, premature discharge, or insufficient follow-up instructions can undo an otherwise sound clinical intervention — and when they do, the post-operative record becomes just as important as what happened during the procedure itself.
- Emergency room negligence: Emergency medicine requires rapid assessment and decision-making in high-pressure conditions. Juries must assess the conduct against the standard applicable in emergency settings, which accounts for the realities of that environment.
- Nursing home and long-term care negligence: These cases are distinct in that negligence often unfolds gradually rather than through a single identifiable event, making the evidentiary record broader and more complex. Staffing levels, care plans, facility policies, and regulatory compliance all become part of the analysis alongside the clinical record.
Why JPM Law for Professional Liability and Medical Malpractice Defense?
Litigating medical malpractice or professional liability claims requires attorneys who understand the specific field’s underlying standards and have both the resources and courtroom discipline to effectively leverage that knowledge. So what can you expect from our medical malpractice and professional liability team?
Experienced Counsel. Our attorneys come from a wide range of legal backgrounds, including insurance defense, commercial litigation, appellate practice, and regulatory law. That collective experience informs our approach to every matter we take on, allowing us to find innovative solutions to address each client’s unique needs and goals.
Understanding the Battlefield: Professional liability cases often involve more than a lawsuit. Many of our clients must also navigate civil, criminal, and regulatory liability matters related to their case. Our lawyers understand that a decision in one matter can impact all of the others. We plan accordingly.
The Resources to Call in the Right Experts. These cases are often decided by the quality of expert testimony. We maintain relationships with respected physicians, surgeons, specialists, and professional practitioners who can speak with authority on the applicable standard of care and stand up to cross-examination.
Skilled Negotiators and ADR Practitioners. Not every case belongs at trial. Our attorneys are experienced negotiators and seasoned ADR practitioners who know when and how to pursue resolution outside the courtroom — and do so from a position of strength.
Tailored, Cost-Effective Solutions. Every case presents its own facts, its own experts, and its own risks. We develop strategies tailored to the specific demands of each matter, with a focus on resolving claims efficiently without compromising the quality of representation.
Widely Respected: JPM Law and its attorneys are highly regarded throughout the legal industry. Our partners hold AV Preeminent ratings from Martindale-Hubbell, and attorneys have been recognized in Best Lawyers in America and named among Oklahoma’s top practitioners by Oklahoma Magazine and Tulsa People.
Connect With Our Team
Professional liability and medical malpractice cases are among the most technically demanding and consequential matters in civil litigation. With so much on the line, the importance of retaining experienced, knowledgeable counsel can’t be overstated. The attorneys at JPM Law have the skills and strategic know-how to fight for the outcome you deserve.
Professional Liability and Medical Malpractice: Frequently Asked Questions
What are professional liability and medical malpractice claims in Oklahoma?
Professional liability and medical malpractice claims arise when a client, patient, or third party alleges a licensed professional failed to meet the standard of care applicable to their field, causing them measurable harm. To prevail, plaintiffs must prove negligence, which means they must meet a high burden of proof by establishing the following four elements.
- Duty: The plaintiff must show that a professional relationship existed — that the defendant had an obligation to provide competent services to them specifically.
- Breach: The plaintiff must prove the defendant failed to meet the standard of care established for that profession.
- Causation: The plaintiff must show that the defendant’s failure to meet that standard directly caused their injury.
- Damages: The plaintiff must show actual, measurable harm. Without documented injury or loss, there is no claim, regardless of how the professional performed.
The standard of care — what a reasonably competent professional in the same field would have done under the same circumstances — is typically among the most contested elements in a professional liability or medical malpractice claim. Professional standards of care are rarely defined in a single statute or rule book, but instead draw on state law, licensing board regulations, professional association guidelines, and established industry practice. Under Oklahoma law, both sides must present testimony to establish the standard of care and whether it was met. The quality of that testimony can make or break a case.
What is the difference between a bad outcome and actual malpractice or negligence?
Not every mistake or poor result is grounds for a lawsuit. To succeed in a professional liability or malpractice claim in Oklahoma, a plaintiff must prove four things:
- The professional owed them a duty of care
- The professional breached that duty by falling below the applicable standard of care
- The breach caused their injury
- They suffered actual damages as a result
A bad outcome — even a serious one — does not establish any of those elements on its own. Plaintiffs must connect the outcome to a specific failure that a reasonably competent professional in the same field would not have made.
What is the statute of limitations for Oklahoma medical malpractice and professional liability claims?
For most professional liability claims, Oklahoma’s statute of limitations gives a plaintiff two years from the date they knew or reasonably should have known they had a claim. The same two-year window applies to medical malpractice cases. However, the deadline can be extended for claims involving minors, shortened to one year for claims against government-employed providers, or pushed back if the plaintiff can prove the provider fraudulently concealed the patient’s injury.
What happens if a verdict comes in above a defendant’s policy limits?
When a verdict exceeds a defendant’s policy limits, the professional can be held personally responsible for the difference. However, Oklahoma law also requires insurers to handle claims in good faith, which includes seriously considering settlement demands within policy limits when the exposure is clear. An insurer that passes on a reasonable settlement and allows the case to go to verdict above those limits can be held liable for the excess judgment.
