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How to Sue Your Attorney for Malpractice

To claim a lawyer's malpractice, it is necessary to prove that the breach had negative legal, financial, or other consequences for you. It is not enough to prove the attorney's negligence was bad and you must prove that there is a direct connection between the breach and the negative outcome.

Legal malpractice does not include issues of strategy. If you lose a case because your lawyer failed to file the lawsuit within the timeframe, this could be negligence.

The misuse of funds

One of the most common kinds of legal malpractice lawsuits is a lawyer's misuse of funds. Attorneys are required to fulfill a fiduciary duty to their clients, and must behave with trust and fidelity when handling money or other property that the client has given them.

When a client is required to pay retainer fees, their lawyer must put that money into a separate escrow account specifically designated for the specific purpose of the case only. If the attorney combines the account with their personal funds, or uses it for other purposes it is a clear violation of fiduciary duty and could constitute legal malpractice.

Imagine, for instance, that a client hires an attorney to represent them in the case of a driver who hit them while they were crossing the street. The client could prove the driver's negligence and the collision resulted in their injuries. Their lawyer misses the statute and is not able to file the case in time. Therefore, the case is dismissed and the injured party suffers financial losses due to the lawyer's mistake.

The time frame for suing an attorney for malpractice is limited by a statute that limits the time for suing that can be difficult to calculate in a situation where an injury or loss occurred as the result of the negligence of the attorney. A New York attorney who is knowledgeable about malpractice law can explain the statute of limitations and assist you in determining if you have a case which is suitable for a lawsuit.

Inability to follow the Rules of Professional Conduct

Legal malpractice is when a lawyer does not follow generally accepted professional standards and causes harm to the client. It is a requirement of the four elements of most torts: an attorney-client relation the breach of a duty and the proximate cause.

Some examples of malpractice include mixing trust and personal account funds, failing in time to make a claim within the time limit and assuming cases where they are not competent, failing to conduct a conflict check, and not being up-to-date with court proceedings or other developments in law that could affect the case. Lawyers are also required to communicate with clients in a fair manner. This does not only include email and faxing as well as returning telephone calls promptly.

It is also possible for lawyers to commit fraud. This can occur in various ways, including lying to the client or anyone else involved in the case. In this situation it is crucial to have the facts in hands so that you can determine if the attorney was dishonest. A breach of the attorney-client agreement is when an attorney decides to take cases outside their area of expertise without informing the client or informing them to seek out independent counsel.

Inability to provide advice

If a client engages an attorney, it is a sign that they've reached a point at which their legal situation is beyond their own skill and experience and they are unable to solve it by themselves. It is the lawyer's duty to advise clients on the merits of a case along with the costs and risks involved and their rights. When an attorney fails to perform this, they could be found guilty of malpractice.

Many legal malpractice lawyer claims result from a lack of communication between attorneys and their clients. A lawyer may not answer a calls or fail to inform their clients of a particular decision made in their behalf. An attorney may also be unable to disclose important information about an instance or fail to identify any issues with transactions.

A client can sue an attorney if they've suffered financial losses as a result of the negligence of the lawyer. These losses must be documented, which will require documents such as client files email correspondence, other correspondence between the lawyer and the client, and bills. In the event of theft or fraud, it may also be necessary to engage an expert witness to review the case.

Failure to Follow the Law

Attorneys must abide by the law and understand what it means for specific situations. If they fail to do so then they could be accused 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.

Other instances of legal malpractice are failure to file a suit within the statute of limitation or missing deadlines for filing with the court and not adhering to the Rules of Professional Conduct. Attorneys are also required to disclose any conflict of interest. This means they must inform clients of any financial or personal concerns that could impact their judgment when representing them.

Attorneys are also required to follow the instructions of their clients. If a customer instructs them to take particular action an attorney must follow those instructions unless there is any reason that suggests it is not advantageous or is not feasible.

To win a malpractice lawsuit, the plaintiff has to show that the lawyer acted in violation of his duty of care. It isn't easy to prove that the defendant's lapses or actions caused harm. It's not enough to prove the result of the negligence of the attorney was bad in order for a malpractice lawyer claim to be successful, it has to be demonstrated that there's an extremely high chance that the plaintiff could have won their case when the defendant had acted in accordance with the standard procedure.