How to Sue Your Attorney for Malpractice
To claim a lawyer's malpractice, you have to prove that the breach of duty had negative legal, financial, or other consequences for you. You must prove that there is a direct link between the attorney's negligence and the negative result.
Legal malpractice does not cover issues of strategy. If you lose a lawsuit because your lawyer did not submit the lawsuit on time it could be a case of the result of malpractice.
The misuse of funds
A misuse of funds by lawyers is one of the most frequent types of legal
malpractice law firm. Attorneys have a fiduciary relationship with their clients and are required to behave with the highest degree of trust and fidelity, especially when dealing with funds or other property that the client has given to them.
When a client makes a payment for their retainer and the lawyer is required by law to deposit the money into an funds that are only intended for the specific case. If the attorney co-mingles the escrow account with personal funds, or uses it for other purposes that is a clear breach of fiduciary duty, and could result in legal misconduct.
Imagine, for example that a customer hires an attorney to represent the client in a lawsuit filed against a driver who hit them as they crossed the street. The client is able to prove the driver's negligence as well as that the collision caused the injuries they sustained. But, their lawyer violates the statute of limitations and is unable to file the case in time. The lawsuit is dismissed, and the person who was injured is liable for financial loss as a result of the lawyer's mistake.
The time frame for suing an attorney for malpractice is limited by a statute of limitation which can be a challenge to determine in cases where an injury or loss resulted from the attorney's negligence. A competent New York attorney with experience in the field of malpractice law will be able to explain the statute of limitations to you and help you determine if your situation is a good candidate for a legal
malpractice lawsuit.
Failure to follow the Rules of Professional Conduct
Legal malpractice is when a lawyer fails to adhere to the generally accepted standards of professional practice and causes harm to the client. It is required to meet the four components of most torts: an attorney-client relation and a duty, breach and proximate cause.
A few common examples of malpractice are a lawyer mixing their personal and trust account funds, failing to timely file suit within the timeframe set by the statute of limitations and assuming cases where they aren't competent, not performing a proper conflict check, as well as not staying up to date with court proceedings or other developments in law that could impact the case. Lawyers are accountable to communicate with their clients in a reasonable way. This doesn't just mean the use of faxes and email, but also resolving telephone calls promptly.
Attorneys can also commit fraud. It can be done by lying to the client or anyone else involved in the case. It is important to know the facts to determine if the attorney was deceitful. A breach of the agreement between the attorney and client is when an attorney decides to take cases outside their expertise without informing the client about it or soliciting independent counsel.
Inability to advise
If a client decides to hire an attorney, it indicates that their legal issue has become beyond their knowledge and knowledge. They are unable solve the issue on their own. The lawyer is obliged to inform clients about the merits of the case, the potential risks and costs involved, as well as their rights. If an attorney does not do this, they could be liable for malpractice.
Many legal malpractice claims result from a lack of communication between lawyers and their clients. An attorney may not return phone call or fail to inform their clients of a specific decision that they have made on their behalf. An attorney might also neglect to communicate important details about the case or fail to identify any issues with an transaction.
A client may sue an attorney if they have suffered financial losses due to the negligence of the lawyer. The losses have to be documented,
malpractice lawyers which requires evidence such as files of the client emails, client files, and other correspondence between the attorney and the client, as well as bills. In the case of fraud or theft, it may also be necessary to have an expert witness examine the case.
Inability to Follow the Law
Attorneys must be in compliance with the law, and know what it means in specific situations. They could be found guilty of malpractice lawyers (
source website) when they fail to do so. Examples include mixing client funds with theirs and using settlement proceeds to pay for personal expenses, and failing to do basic due diligence.
Another instance of legal misconduct includes the failure to file a lawsuit within the timeframe of limitations, not meeting deadlines for filing in court and not adhering to the Rules of Professional Conduct. Attorneys must disclose any conflicts of interests. This means that they must inform clients of any financial or personal interests that might affect their judgment in representing them.
Finally, attorneys are obligated to follow instructions from their clients. If a client asks them to take particular action, the attorney must follow those instructions unless there's an obvious reason why it would not be beneficial or even feasible.
In order to prevail in a malpractice lawsuit the plaintiff must demonstrate that the lawyer violated their duty of care. This can be difficult, since it requires proving the defendant's actions or negligence caused damages. It's also not enough to show that the result of the negligence of the attorney was detrimental and for a malpractice case to succeed, it needs to be proven that there is a high likelihood that the plaintiff would have prevailed if the defendant had followed standard practice.