Medical care practitioners must understand basic medical care law to practice in the modern medical care environment. Medical care practitioners do not need to become lawyers, but they need to be able to recognize legal problems and triage them into those that they can manage themselves, those that need more detailed legal advice, and those that constitute legal emergencies. Law must be part of the routine practice of medical care delivery, not just something that the lawyers do. Medical care practitioners need to practice in ways that are consistent with their legal and ethical duties, and they need to create a culture that encourages others to do the same.