How to Sue Your Attorney for Malpractice

To sue your attorney for malpractice, you must prove that the breach of duty led to legal, monetary or other negative outcomes for you. You must show a direct connection between the attorney's negligence and the negative results.

The nuances of strategy don't be considered legal malpractice, but the lawyer you hire fails to file a lawsuit on time and you lose the case, it could be a case of malpractice.

Inappropriate use of funds

One of the most common kinds of legal malpractice is the misuse by a lawyer of funds. Attorneys are legally bound by a fiduciary responsibility to their clients, and must act with integrity and fidelity when handling funds or any other property that the client has trusted them with.

When a client pays their retainer the lawyer is obligated by law to deposit the money into an fund for escrow that is exclusively utilized for that particular case. If the lawyer co-mingles the account with their own personal funds or makes use of it for other purposes, this is a clear breach of fiduciary responsibility and could constitute legal misconduct.

Imagine, for instance, that a client employs their attorney to represent them in an action against a driver who hit them as they were crossing the street. The client is able to prove that the driver was negligent, and can prove that the collision caused their injuries. However, their lawyer misses the statute of limitations and is in a position to file the lawsuit in time. The lawsuit is dismissed and the victim is financially harmed due to the lawyer's mistake.

The statute of limitations limit the amount of time you can bring a lawsuit against a lawyer for Poolesville malpractice lawyer. This can be difficult to calculate when an injury or loss was due to the negligence of the lawyer. A qualified New York attorney with experience in malpractice law can explain the time limit to you and assist you to determine if your case is a suitable candidate for a legal malpractice lawsuit.

Do not follow the professional rules of conduct

Legal malpractice occurs when an attorney does not adhere to generally accepted standards of professional conduct, and harms the client. It requires the four elements of the most common torts: an attorney-client relationship as well as breach of duty and the proximate cause.

Some examples of malpractice are the lawyer combining their personal and trust funds, failing timely to file suit within the timeframes, pursuing cases where they are not competent, failing to conduct an examination of conflicts and not keeping up to the current court proceedings or any other legal developments that could impact the case. Lawyers also have a responsibility to communicate with clients in a reasonable manner. This does not only include email and faxing as well as returning telephone calls in a timely manner.

It is also possible for lawyers to commit fraud. This can be done by lying to the client or to anyone else involved in the case. In this case it is essential to have all the facts at your possession to determine if the attorney was deceitful. A breach of the agreement between the attorney and client occurs when an ating process when representing them.

Attorneys must also adhere to the instructions of their clients. If a client instructs them to take a particular action an attorney must follow the instructions, unless there's an obvious reason that it is not beneficial or possible.

In order to prevail in a malpractice case, the plaintiff has to prove that the lawyer violated his duty of care. It can be difficult to prove that the defendant's inaction or actions resulted in damage. It isn't enough to prove that the attorney's error resulted in a bad outcome. A florissant malpractice attorney claim must also show that there was a substantial likelihood that the plaintiff's lawsuit would have been won if the defendant had followed standard procedures.