Certain professions hold certain risks — both for the professional in question and for their clients. Medical, chiropractic, and dental patients face uncertainty each time they undergo a treatment, surgery, or even routine teeth cleaning. In the same sense, real estate clients are exposed to being disappointed by the properties they visit, buy, or lease.

It’s easy for us to think about the hazards involved for those on the client side of such situations, but what about the professionals trying to help them?

Risks to Professional License Holders

When you enter into a line of work that requires you to obtain a professional license, you are essentially putting your entire livelihood on the line each time you do your job. You see, when your client or patient gets hurt, feels threatened, or is otherwise unhappy with your service, they have a right to pursue legal action against you.When a client’s dissatisfaction reaches a certain level, a typical complaint can quickly turn into a legal accusation. Depending on the circumstances of your particular situation, the accusation may be classified as professional malpractice or professional negligence. In either case, you must defend yourself in order to avoid the potential consequences of being found guilty:

The Difference Between Malpractice & Negligence

The state of Colorado recognizes that there are varying degrees of mistakes that can be made by licensed professionals. For that reason, the penalties for each offense are as diverse as the offenses themselves. So if you’re wondering what’s going to happen if you are found guilty of negligence or malpractice, the answer is, unfortunately, “it depends.”

One thing that can give you a better idea of where your alleged offense stands is taking a moment to understand the difference between malpractice and negligence.

Defending Your Professional License

In the vast majority of malpractice and negligence cases, the professional in question did not have ill-intent against their client or patient. Rather, they took a calculated risk, made a minor error, or were falsely accused by an upset client.

If you are currently involved in such a situation, do not wait to put an experienced legal professional on your side. It may be possible to defend your license by proving that your client or patient was partially responsible for the incident and/or that you did everything in your power to perform your job correctly. Allow us to build you the best possible defense so that, ideally, you can keep your professional license and continue to do your job.