Attorney licensing

It depends where the doctor lives, but more probably than not, the lawsuit would need to be filed in Oregon. You would need an attorney who is licesned to practice in Oregon to pursue your claim. Best of luck.

The general rule is a case is filed in the state where the negligent act occurred and/or the defendant resides. You have two options on where to find a medical malpractice attorney. You can try to find an attorney in Washington. That attorney would either a) be licensed in Oregon as well; or b) associate in local counsel in Oregon. What I mean by "associate in local counsel" is your Washington attorney can ask an Oregon attorney to join him/her on the case, which enables the Oregon attorney to come into Washington for your case. This is called "pro hac vice." Pro hac vice is latin for "for this occasion" and requires the non-resident attorney make an application to practice in the other state for a particular case, with the local attorney sponsoring him/her.

Your second option is to directly hire a Washington attorney. Most of your involvement in your case can be done through email, phone calls, and other electronic means. You would have to travel to Washington for meetings that require face-to-face interaction, your deposition (an answer session where the other side asks you questions under oath), mediation, and trial. On some of these things the attorneys may be able to come to Oregon, such as your deposition. It just depends on how the attorneys are getting along. You are probably looking at between 1-4 trips to Washington. I have been involved in many cases where one of the parties is in a different state and it has never been too cumbersome for that party.

There is a major difference between Oregon and Washington law in that Oregon allows for punitive damages while Washington State does not. Further, even though the doctrine of suing in the state of the injury was the most common way of approaching litigation a few decades ago, the doctrine of 'lex loci delicti' has been replaced in both states by the doctrine of 'the most significant connection.'

Usually this entails a rather complex choice of law analysis.

In other words, you maybe able to sue in either the Washington State Federal Court System or the Washington State Court system and use Oregon substantive law to resolve the merits of your claim. To be candid, this kind of litigation is complex and requires you hire good medical malpractice counsel in whatever state you choose. Sometimes suing in the forum of the injury can have advantages, so get really good counsel to help you make the right decisions.


In the meantime, I hope you are lucky enough to have a better outcome than you are describing here.