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How to Sue Your Attorney for Malpractice

To claim a lawyer's malpractice, you have to show that the breach caused financial, legal or other repercussions for you. It is not enough to prove that the attorney's negligence was negligent but you must also prove that there is a direct connection between the breach and the undesirable outcome.

Legal malpractice does not include matters of strategy. However, if you lose a case due to your lawyer failed to file the lawsuit in time this could be considered malpractice.

Misuse of funds

Misuse of funds by a lawyer is among the most frequent kinds of legal fraud. Attorneys are legally bound by a fiduciary responsibility to their clients and must behave with confidence and fidelity when handling money or other property that the client has given them.

When a client makes a payment for their retainer to a lawyer, they are required by law to deposit the money into an funds that are only utilized for that particular case. If the attorney combines the account with their own personal funds, or uses it for other purposes that is a clear breach of fiduciary duty, and could constitute legal negligence.

Imagine, for instance the scenario where a client hires an attorney to represent the client in a lawsuit filed against a motorist whose car struck them when they crossed the street. The client could prove the driver's negligence and the accident led to the injuries they sustained. The lawyer, however, misses the statute and is not able to file the case in time. The lawsuit is dismissed and the party who was injured suffers a financial loss because of the lawyer's mistake.

The statute of limitations restricts the time that you can bring a lawsuit against a lawyer for malpractice. It can be a challenge to determine 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 assist you determine if your case is a suitable candidate for a legal malpractice lawsuit.

Failure to follow the Rules of Professional Conduct

Legal malpractice occurs when a lawyer fails to adhere to generally accepted professional standards and causes harm to the client. It entails the same four elements of most torts: an attorney-client relationship as well as a duty, breach, and proximate causality.

A few examples of malpractice include the lawyer mixing personal and trust funds, not submitting claims in time to file suit within time limits, taking cases in which they are not competent, failing to carry out an examination of conflicts and not being up to the latest court proceedings or any new developments in law that could affect the case. Lawyers are also required to communicate with clients in a reasonable way. This is not limited to email and faxing and includes also returning phone calls in a timely manner.

Attorneys can also commit fraud. This could be done by lying to the client, or any other person who is involved in the case. It is crucial to know the facts to determine if the lawyer was dishonest. It also constitutes a breach of the contract between attorney and client if an attorney decides to take on cases that are outside of their expertise and does not inform the client of this or advise them to seek separate counsel.

Failure to Advise

If a client engages an attorney, this means they've reached the point where their legal situation is beyond their capabilities and experience and that they are unable to resolve it on their own. The lawyer is obliged to inform clients about the importance of the case, the potential risks and costs involved, as well as their rights. If an attorney fails to do this, they may be guilty of malpractice.

Many legal malpractice lawyer claims stem from poor communication between attorneys and their clients. Attorneys may not respond to phone call or fail to inform their clients of a certain decision that they have made on their behalf. An attorney may also be unable to communicate important details about a case or fail to divulge any issues with transactions.

It is possible to bring a lawsuit against an attorney for malpractice, but a client must prove that they suffered real financial losses because 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 lawyer and the client, along with bills. In the event of fraud or theft, it may also be required to be able to have an expert witness review the case.

Inability to Follow the Law

Attorneys must adhere to the law and know how it applies to specific circumstances. If they don't and they don't, they could be found guilty of misconduct. Examples include mixing funds from clients with theirs, using settlement proceeds to pay for personal expenses, and failing to exercise basic due diligence.

Another example of legal malpractice includes failure to file a lawsuit within the timeframe of limitations, not meeting court filing deadlines and not adhering to the Rules of Professional Conduct. Attorneys are also required to disclose any conflict of interest. This means that they must inform clients of any financial or personal interests that could affect their judgment in representing them.

Additionally, attorneys are required to abide by the instructions of their clients. If a customer instructs them to take particular action, the attorney must follow those instructions unless there is an obvious reason that it is not advantageous or is not feasible.

In order to win a malpractice Lawyer suit the plaintiff must show that the lawyer breached their duty of care. This can be difficult, as it requires showing that 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 in order for a malpractice claim to succeed, it needs to be demonstrated that there's a high probability that the plaintiff would have prevailed should the defendant followed the accepted practice.