How to Sue Your Attorney for Malpractice

If you wish to sue your attorney over negligence, you must show that their breach of duty caused financial, legal or other negative outcomes for you. It's not enough to demonstrate that the negligence of your attorney was injurious and you must prove that there is a direct connection between the breach and the resulting outcome.

Legal malpractice does not include issues of strategy. If you lose a case due to your lawyer didn't file the lawsuit in time, this could be the result of malpractice.

Use of funds in a fraudulent way

The misuse of funds by a lawyer is among the most frequent forms of legal fraud. Lawyers have a fiduciary connection with their clients and are expected to behave with the utmost trust and fidelity, especially when handling funds or other property that the client has entrusted to them.

When a client makes a payment for their retainer the lawyer is obligated by law to put that money into an escrow fund that is only utilized for that particular case. If the lawyer co-mingles the account with their own personal funds or uses it for any other purpose, this is a clear breach of fiduciary responsibility and could be considered legal negligence.

Imagine, for instance, that a client hired an attorney to represent him in a lawsuit filed against a motorist whose car struck them while crossing the street. The client is able to prove the driver's negligence, and that the collision resulted in their injuries. Their lawyer misses the statute and is not able to file the case in time. The lawsuit is dismissed and the injured party suffers financial losses because of the lawyer's error.

A statute of limitations limits the time that you can pursue a lawyer's malpractice. It is often difficult to calculate when the loss or injury was caused by the attorney's negligence. A qualified New York attorney with experience in the field of malpractice law will be able to explain the statute of limitations to you and help determine if your situation is a suitable candidate for a legal meridian malpractice attorney lawsuit.

Disobedience to the Rules of Professional Conduct

Legal malpractice occurs the case when a lawyer doesn't follow generally accepted professional standards and results in harm to the client. It entails the same four elements that are common to all torts: an attorney-client relationship as well as a duty, breach, and proximate causation.

A few examples of malpractice include the lawyer mixing personal and trust funds, not submitting claims in time to file suit within statutes of limitations, taking cases where they are not competent, failing to perform a conflict check and not being up-to the latest court proceedings or any new developments in law that could affect the case. Lawyers also have a duty to communicate with clients in a reasonable manner. This is not limited to email and faxes, but also the ability to return phone calls promptly.

Attorneys can also commit fraud. This can be done in various ways, which includes lying to the client or to anyone involved in a case. It is crucial to know the facts to determine if the attorney was insincere. It is also a breach of the attorney-client contract if an attorney decides to take on an issue that is outside of their expertise and fails to inform the client about this or suggest that they seek separate counsel.

Inability to advise

When a client employs an attorney, it implies that their legal matter has become beyond their skill and experience. They are unable to resolve it on their own. It is the job of the lawyer to provide advice to clients regarding the advantages of a case, the costs and risks involved, as well as their rights. If a lawyer fails to perform this, they could be found guilty of malpractice.

Many legal malpractice cases are the result of poor communication between lawyers and their clients. For example, an attorney might not return phone calls or fail to inform their clients of a decision they made on their behalf. A lawyer may also fail to provide important information regarding an instance or fail to identify any issues with the transaction.

A client may sue an attorney if they've suffered financial losses due to the negligence of the lawyer. The losses have to be documented, which requires evidence such as files of the client emails, correspondence between the lawyer and the client, along with bills. In cases involving fraud or theft it could be necessary to get an expert witness to look into the case.

Inability to Follow the Law

Attorneys are required to follow the law and comprehend the way it is applied in particular situations. If they don't, they could be guilty of misconduct. Examples include combining client funds with their own, or using settlement proceeds for personal expenses, or not performing basic due diligence.

Another example of legal malpractice includes failure to file a lawsuit within the timeframe of limitations, missing deadlines for filing in court, vimeo and not following the Rules of Professional Conduct. Attorneys must also declare any conflicts of interest. They must disclose to clients any financial or personal interest that could affect their judgment when representing them.

Attorneys are also required to follow instructions from their clients. If a customer instructs them to take a specific action, the attorney must follow the instructions, unless there's any reason that suggests it would not be beneficial or even feasible.

In order to win a malpractice suit, the plaintiff has to show that the lawyer acted in violation of his duty of care. This isn't easy, since it requires proof that the defendant's actions or inaction resulted in damages. It is not enough to show that the attorney's negligence resulted in a bad outcome. A malpractice claim must also show that there was a high probability that the plaintiff's case could have been settled if the defendant had followed standard procedures.