You won\’t often hear people discuss legal malpractice cases, or at least not as often as you\’ll hear people gladly discuss their medical malpractice case. The reality is that in the same way that medical malpractice can leave you scarred for life, legal malpractice can have far-reaching consequences for you and your family. The main reason why people are very slow to file a legal malpractice suit is that they can be very difficult to prove in court, especially considering the fact you\’re trying to sue a lawyer – they can often have a seemingly unfair advantage in situations like this.
Some of the most commons types of legal malpractice include failure to sue within a statute of limitations, failure to apply the law correctly in your case, and breach of the client-attorney relationship, including breach of attorney-client privilege. In extreme cases legal malpractice occurs because an attorney has deliberately attempted to cause their client harm in a legal or financial sense. In some cases an attorney failing to return your phone calls can be classed as legal malpractice.
If you want to be successful in pursuing a legal malpractice case against your previous attorney here are some steps to follow:
#1 Prove Relationship
For there to be a legal malpractice case you must first be able to prove that a relationship existed between you and the lawyer in the first place. Ideally you would have a written contract or agreement to prove that a client-attorney relationship existed, but any form of bill or invoice is also acceptable as proof. Although a written contract or agreement is preferable, sometimes the actions of a lawyer can be enough to establish that a relationship did in fact exist, and that you were entitled to professional, and ethical, legal representation as a result.
#2 Proof of Malpractice
Proving that there was negligence on your attorney\’s part is requires multiple steps to be completed. You must be able to prove that the original case you were pursuing through that attorney actually had merit i.e. it was a legitimate case worth winning. If this wasn\’t the case then proving incompetence on the part of your attorney will be difficult, if not impossible.
If your original case did have legal merit, and stood a chance of being successful, you must then be able to clearly demonstrate exactly how your lawyer failed to provide the standard of care you were legally entitled to. This could include misappropriation of trust funds, failure to meet court deadlines, or a failure to disclose a conflict of interest which might have put you at a legal disadvantage when pursuing your case. You may need expert testimony at this point to allow you to prove that malpractice did take place.
#3 Proof of Harm
Once you\’ve established that a client-attorney relationship did exist, and you have proof that your attorney was incompetent in carrying out their duties for you, you must then prove how you were harmed by their misrepresentation of you. One example would be if you had been given a prison sentence as a result of their malpractice – this is a very clear definition of harm to your person, and your reputation. If you suffered financial loss because of your attorney\’s incompetence then you\’ll need documentation and financial records to prove that too.
#4 Specific Damages
When we mention damages here we must be clear in stating that whatever damages you claim to have suffered must be very clearly defined and measurable. They cannot be vague in nature, or simply claims of emotional distress because of your attorney\’s misrepresentation.
#5 Advice
Remember that every legal malpractice suit is really a case within a case. You must first be able to prove that your underlying case had merit, and then clearly prove that you were misrepresented by your attorney. This means that one of the most important steps you can take when pursuing a case like this is to hire a skilled legal malpractice attorney – they will be worth every cent of their fees.