Legal Exposure in the Veterinary Profession

Larry Oxenham, senior advisor at American Society for Asset Protection (ASAP), discusses the legal exposure that those in the veterinary profession are faced with.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability)

“Really it’s a broad-based exposure because they have their practice, but they also have their life, which mean their home, their family, and other people. The real fear that veterinarians have is that not only do they risk a lawsuit in their business, but what if it spills over and they end up naming their family as dependents—which most attorneys do today. They will name everybody that is related to the business: the family, the staff, the bookkeeper, everybody, because that way they can scare the most people.

The exposure that most veterinarians have is that one, their business is at risk, but they could go to court and the court could give an award that’s greater than the value of their business and greater than the value of their insurance. Every day they work, the risk is everything they have. And so, the fear is getting an attorney who is aggressive enough to go after everything they have and then all those years of schooling and all those years of work just go in the blink of an eye. Or, as we tell them, each person in the room is one bad judge’s decision away from starting over and that’s a heck of a way to run a business.”