7 Useful Tips For Making The Most Of Your Malpractice Lawyers

How to Sue Your Attorney for Malpractice

If you want to sue your attorney for negligence, you must show that their negligence caused legal, monetary or other negative outcomes for you. You must establish that there is a direct link between the attorney's negligence and the negative results.

Legal malpractice is not a issues of strategy. If you lose a lawsuit because your lawyer failed to submit the lawsuit on time it could be a case of negligence.

Fraud in the use of funds

One of the most prevalent kinds of legal malpractices is the misuse by a lawyer of funds. Attorneys have a fiduciary relationship with their clients and are required to behave with a high level of trust and fidelity, particularly when dealing with funds or other property that the client has entrusted to them.

If a client pays a retainer, their lawyer must put that money into a separate escrow account that is specifically destined for the purpose of the case only. If the lawyer utilizes the escrow funds to pursue personal goals or mix it with their own funds and funds, they are in breach of their fiduciary responsibilities and could be charged with legal malpractice.

Imagine, for instance that a client hires an attorney to represent him in a suit filed against a driver whose car hit them as they crossed the street. The client can prove the driver's negligence and that the accident caused the injuries they sustained. The lawyer, however, misses the statute and is unable 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 time for suing an attorney for malpractice is limited by a statute of limitations, which can be tricky to determine in cases where an injury or loss resulted from the attorney's negligence. A qualified New York attorney with experience in malpractice law can explain the statute of limitations to you and help you determine if your case is a good candidate for a legal malpractice suit.

Failure to Follow the Rules of Professional Conduct

Legal malpractice is when an attorney fails to follow generally accepted professional standards and causes harm to the client. It requires the four elements of the most common torts: an attorney-client relationship as well as breach of duty and the proximate cause.

Some common instances of malpractice include mixing trust and personal account funds, failing in time to file a lawsuit within the timeframe of the statute of limitations and assuming cases where they aren't competent, not performing a proper conflict check, as well as not being up-to-date with court proceedings or any new developments in law that may affect the case. Lawyers are accountable to communicate with their clients in a timely manner. This is not limited to emails and faxes as well as returning phone calls in a timely manner.

It is also possible for attorneys to engage in fraud. This could be accomplished by lying to the client, or any other person involved in the case. It is essential to understand the facts so you can determine if the lawyer was dishonest. It is also a breach of the attorney-client contract when an attorney takes on a case that is outside of their area of expertise and fails to inform the client about this or advise them to seek separate counsel.

Failure to Advise

When a client employs an attorney, this means they've reached a stage where their legal problem is beyond their expertise and attorneys experience and that they are no longer able to resolve it on their own. The lawyer's job is to inform clients of the merits of a particular case, the costs and risks involved and their rights. When an attorney fails to comply with this requirement, they could be found guilty of malpractice.

Many legal malpractice cases stem from poor communication between attorneys and their clients. For instance attorneys may not return phone calls or fail to notify their clients of a decision they made on their behalf. Attorneys may also fail to share important information about a case or fail to disclose known problems with the transaction.

A client may sue an attorney if they've suffered financial losses as a result of the negligence of the lawyer. The losses must be documented, which will require evidence like client files, emails and other correspondence between the attorney and the client, along with bills. In the event of fraud, or theft, an expert witness may be needed to investigate the case.

Inability to Follow the Law

Attorneys are bound by the law and comprehend the way it is applied in particular circumstances. If they fail to do so or don't, they could be accused of malpractice. Examples include combining funds from clients with their own, or using settlement proceeds for attorneys personal expenses, or failing to exercise basic due diligence.

Other instances of legal misconduct include failure to file a suit within the time limit or missing deadlines for filing with the court and not following the Rules of Professional Conduct. Attorneys are also obligated to disclose any significant conflicts of interest. They must inform clients of any financial or personal interests that could affect their judgment when representing them.

Finally, attorneys are obligated to abide by the instructions of their clients. Attorneys must follow instructions from clients unless it is clear that the decision will not be beneficial.

In order to prevail in a malpractice suit, the plaintiff must prove that the lawyer violated their duty of care. This isn't easy, since it requires proof that the defendant's actions, or inaction, caused damages. It's not enough to prove the result of the negligence of the attorney was bad and for a malpractice case to be successful, it has to be proven that there is a high probability that the plaintiff could have won the case when the defendant had acted in accordance with the accepted practice.