Fascinating article from New York Magazine about the inner workings of a malpractice case. The plaintiff firm specializes in cases involving brain-damaged infants:

When Fitzgerald started doing “med-mal” cases in the early eighties, after a career in landlord-tenant law”””lucrative but not rewarding,” he says””firms like Fitzgerald that charged a contingency fee could take about a third of any award. Now their take is capped by law at a third of the first $250,000 and goes down to 10 percent of any amount over $1.25 million, making routine adult cases less feasible. But in the case of brain-damaged infants, the potential damages””pain and suffering, lost wages, and cost of care counted over a life span of 50, 60, or 70 years””can quickly spiral to enormous sums.