What is medical malpractice? Under the law you need four components that must be met for a lawsuit to succeed:
1) Duty, 2) Breach, 3) Causation, and 4) Injury.
This is the legal criteria that makes you vulnerable. But strangely many other factors, not related to the criteria, create suits.

There is a lot that is peculiar about the malpractice lawsuit system. The Harvard Malpractice study of 1998 suggests that only about 3% of breaches of care and injuries turn into litigation. An Archives of Internal Medicine study suggests that communications skills are more important than clinical skills, and that 71% sue due to communication issues.

Two separate studies about adverse medical events which pose a significant health problem during hospitalization report that such events are prevalent, yet there was no correlation between negligent care and malpractice claims. These were from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard School of Public Health, in the March issue of Medical Care, a journal of the American Public Health Association. This weak correlation has been reported in other prior studies.

Are most malpractice cases about bad outcomes? Actually studies indicate they have a lot more to do with bad attitudes and bad relationships. Then when one looks at claims, only 1 in 6 are estimated to be negligent injury. What makes it likely a claim will be being filed? Predictors of litgation are patient dissatisfaction, communications skills, sense of humor.

But severity of injury does play an important role once cases move into the litigation system. And moderately to seriously injured patients are 2-3 times more likely to file a suit than ones with lesser injuries. Most of the highest payouts are for failure to diagnose and treat. Of claims that go to court the rate of payment is relatively low, in the 10% to 50% range, but more likely at the lower end of that range.

There is also a study by Kaiser which feels that most patients feel there is too much litigation, and that there should be a limit on punitive damages and pain and suffering.

Therefore your likelihood of having a lawsuit depends on your relationship with the patient first, and bad outcomes second. But your likelihood of winning a lawsuit, depends on the medical record, the severity of the injury, and your demeanor.