How to Sue Your Attorney for Malpractice

To sue your attorney for malpractice, you have to prove that their breach of duty caused financial, legal or other negative effects for you. You must establish a direct connection between the attorney's incompetence and the negative outcome.

Strategies do not be considered legal malpractice, but the lawyer you hire fails to file a lawsuit within the timeframe and you lose the case that could be a form of malpractice.

Inappropriate use of funds

One of the most common types of legal radcliff malpractice attorney is the misuse of funds by lawyers. Lawyers have a fiduciary connection with their clients and are required to behave with a high degree of trust and fidelity, particularly when dealing with money or other property that the client has entrusted to them.

When a client pays a retainer, their attorney is required to place the money into an separate escrow account that is designated for that case's purpose only. If the attorney co-mingles the escrow account with personal funds or uses it for any other purpose, this is a clear violation of fiduciary duty and could be considered legal misconduct.

For example, imagine that a client hires their attorney to represent them in a lawsuit against a driver who struck them as they were crossing the street. The client could prove the driver's negligence as well as that the accident caused their injuries. However, their lawyer is not aware of the deadline and is incapable of bringing the case within the timeframe. Thus, the lawsuit is dismissed and the party who was injured suffers financial loss as a result of the lawyer's error.

A statute of limitations limits the amount of time you can claim a lawyer's negligence. This can be difficult to determine when the loss or injury was caused by negligence of the lawyer. A New York attorney who is skilled in Porter Malpractice Law firm law will be able to explain the statute of limitations and help you decide if you have a case that is eligible for a lawsuit.

Inability to follow the Rules of Professional Conduct

Legal malpractice is when a lawyer fails to adhere to generally accepted professional standards and results in harm to the client. It is a requirement of the four elements of the most common torts: an attorney-client relation the breach of a duty and proximate cause.

Some examples of misconduct include a lawyer mixing their personal and trust account funds, failing in time to file suit within the timeframe of the statute of limitations and assuming cases in which they are not competent, not conducting an investigation into conflicts, and not keeping up-to-date with court proceedings or other developments in the law that could impact the case. Lawyers are also required to communicate with clients in a fair manner. This includes not just the use of faxes and email, but also the ability to return phone calls promptly.

Attorneys can also commit fraud. It can be done by lying to the client, or any other person who is involved in the case. It is crucial to know the facts in order to determine whether the attorney was deceitful. It is also a breach of the attorney-client contract if an attorney decides to take on a case that is outside of their area of expertise and does not inform the client of this or suggest they seek out separate counsel.

Failure to Advise

When a client employs an attorney, it indicates that their legal situation has become beyond their skill and knowledge. They are unable solve the issue on their own. It is the lawyer's duty to inform clients about the merits of a case, the costs and risks associated with it, and their rights. If an attorney fails to do this, they may be guilty of malpractice.

Many legal malpractice claims stem from poor communication between attorneys and their clients. For example attorneys may not respond to phone calls or fail to notify their clients of a decision they made on their behalf. Attorneys may not be able to communicate crucial information regarding a case or not disclose any known issues with a transaction.

A client may sue an attorney if they've suffered financial losses as a result of the negligence of the lawyer. The losses have to be documented, which requires documents such as client files, emails and other correspondence between the attorney and the client, as well bills. In the event of theft or fraud it could also be necessary to be able to have an expert witness review the case.

Failure to Follow the Law

Attorneys must adhere to the law and understand what it means in specific circumstances. They could be found guilty of malpractice if they do not. Examples include mixing client funds with their own using settlement proceeds to pay for personal expenses and failing to do basic due diligence.

Other examples of legal malpractice are failure to file a lawsuit within the statute of limitations or missing deadlines for filing with the court and not adhering to the Rules of Professional Conduct. Attorneys must disclose any conflicts of interests. They must disclose to clients any personal or financial interest which could affect their judgment when representing them.

Attorneys must also follow the instructions of their clients. Attorneys must abide by the instructions of clients, unless it is clear that the act is not beneficial.

In order to prevail in a malpractice lawsuit the plaintiff has to prove that the lawyer violated their duty of care. This can be a challenge, since it requires proving the defendant's actions or inaction resulted in damages. It's also not enough to prove that the result of the attorney's negligence was bad and for a malpractice case to succeed, it needs to be shown that there is a high likelihood that the plaintiff could have won their case when the defendant had acted in accordance with standard practice.