This is an alter to protect myself. I need some guidance on what kind of lawyer I should seek for equine medical care negligence. I know there are a few lawyers on this forum that are very horse experienced; I’m not looking for legal counsel just some general direction. Feel free to DM for more specifics; I’m intentionally being vague. Thanks in advance.
Hire the best civil trial lawyer. Who will then hire equine medical experts.
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I am hired frequently as an equine expert witness in cases like this. Your best bet is to consult with an equine lawyer who is licensed to practice in your State or Province. I have a list of equine lawyers on my website at www.equineappraisers.com/equineattorney.html and some do’s and don’ts at the top of the page when you are contacting a lawyer.
Most cases settle out of court and never go to trial so a trial lawyer would be jumping the gun at this stage. 
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Could be an equine lawyer, a lawyer who does veterinary malpractice, or if you can’t find one of those, a general civil litigator. These types of lawyers would handle settlement discussions as well as trial, so it is not unreasonable to engage one at this stage.
Generally speaking, the hurdle with these types of cases will be whether the damages are big enough to attract a lawyer. In most states, the damages will be measured by the value of the animal (or perhaps extra treatment costs incurred if the animal did not die). There are a few states where the owner might be able to get emotional distress damages, but this is unusual. As far as I know, there won’t be any pain and suffering damages for the horse, because it is considered property.
If you have a top show horse or race horse, an attorney will likely be interested. However, if it’s a “regular” horse worth say $25k, it may be hard to engage a lawyer because it’s not worth their time, and (as someone above said) they would have to hire an expert witness to prove the case, which is very pricey. Heck, in California, people have trouble getting lawyers for medmal cases where the damages are capped at $250k.
You will have to prove not only that the treatment had a bad outcome, but that the vet’s actions fell beyond the accepted standard of care in the region.
I don’t mean to be a negative Nellie, just giving some realistic considerations. Keep in mind, if the damages are low, you also have the option of pursuing the claim in small claims court, but you will still need an expert (another vet) willing to testify that the first vet screwed up.
I should note: this is intended as generic information; you should definitely consult with a lawyer in your state about the specifics of your case and your state’s laws.
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BTW, my response applies to the U.S. I notice some differences with Daventry’s advice, which may be because he/she is in Canada.
I didn’t really give any advice, simply provided a link to a list of equine lawyers in North America. 90% of my clientele are U.S. clients so the same information applies to the U.S. and Canada.
My second paragraph was in reference to the other poster who recommended the OP hire a trial attorney and medical experts. I simply stated that would be jumping the gun at this point.
Oh, okay!! I wasn’t sure from your response if maybe in Canada, trial attorneys don’t do demand letters and settlement negotiations. We certainly do that here in the U.S.!
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I hear ya! ;). I have been working as an equine expert witness for over 20 years in both Canada, U.S. and overseas. I find some trial lawyers charge more than the average lawyer. Since the OP is only looking for advice right now, it will probably be much cheaper to consult with an equine lawyer or lawyer with equine experience. You also provided some great information that the OP needs to consider. A lot of people seem to think you can just go ahead and sue anybody for anything and that it is a simple process (based on the poster who encouraged the OP to hire a trial lawyer and medical experts). Unfortunately, suing another party is far from simple.
You raise a good point. Even if it doesn’t make economic sense to go to trial, the OP may be able to pay a lawyer on an hourly basis to send a demand letter to the negligent vet and see what happens. It’s possible the vet has malpractice insurance or knows s/he screwed up, and might be willing to settle promptly without the need for experts, a trial, etc. It could be worth a try.
So, I would consider looking for an attorney with equine experience in your state (state laws can vary.) Also, if you can, I think it would be helpful to you to discreetly reach out to an equine professional to get more insight on your case. Obviously, you need legal advice. But, IME I think it is helpful sometimes to have more perspective. Even when something might really feel like gross negligence to an owner, sometimes that is a misinterpretation. OTOH, I have also seen the opposite–owners walk away from situations thinking that things were just random accidents when in fact the people they had trusted with their horse/s were doing extremely unethical things that resulted in harm to the horse. There’s also a big gap where something happens to a horse and an owner suspects negligence, but there’s just no way to either 1) prove the negligence or 2) to prove that the negligence directly resulted in the harm the horse suffered.
As an aside, I think when you do meet with a lawyer, I think it is very pertinent to ask about the costs of pursuing the lawsuit vs. likelihood of a payout. Depending on your financial circumstances, this may or may not be an issue for you. It may be enough to you to feel like you were able to hold the person responsible in some manner for whatever happened to your horse, even if it was just by making them deal with a lawsuit.
I’ll second the recommendation above that you want a civil trial lawyer - possibly one with equine experience (but definitely not necesary). The settlement offers will be higher if they believe you are serious about filing suit - and one way to convey that is with your choice of counsel. I’ll also note that cases are infinitely easier to resolve with a coherent strategy from day 1. Moving a case after settlement negotiations have failed is rarely in anyone’s best interest.
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I’m also chiming in that a litigation lawyer is OK. and doesn’t necessarily have to be someone specialized in equine law, though it might be helpful. If you have any sort of EAP which includes legal advice through your employer, it might be worth it to consult with them or if you have an attorney friend talk to them to see if you have a case. Sometimes it’s more than obvious and other times it can be a grey area. Medical equine negligence could mean a lot of things - is it something that happened with a vet, rehab care following an injury or surgery, or a horse getting severely injured due to barn staff negligence which now requires a lot of medical care? If you’re a USEF member they may have a legal resource to field some questions or make referrals as well.
I have a friend who was being sued over a riding accident, she was lucky as one of her barn-mates happened to be representing a well-known sports figure. He was not a litigation attorney, called in a couple of equine witnesses. Done deal.
