Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Protect Yourself From People Behaving Badly: One Lawyer's Philosophy On Legal Malpractice

A lawyer once asked me - how can you sue other lawyers, isn't it like eating your own? My response is simple - our system works to make the medical profession better by holding doctors responsible for their actions and to provide for compensation to victims damaged by the negligence of a doctor. It must do the same for individuals damaged by lawyers. It is simple - victims of a lawyer’s malpractice, where a lawyer screwed up, also deserve and are entitled to compensation for their damages. Lawyers behaving badly, just like anyone else, need to understand that they are not immune from compensating the victim. We Can Help!

This is just an intro on my philosophy about Malpractice – 100’s of years ago it was considered revolutionary to allow people to seek damages from each other for injuries caused by negligence. This was both to foster a sense of justice, but also to avoid literal attempts at self help - an eye for an eye. Today when someone is negligent, which is nothing more than the failure to act as others would or should in the same situation, our courts provide for a shifting of the burden of the injuries from the person who negligently caused the injury to the injured person - or family of - the injured person. This applies whether it is a simple automobile crash or the malpractice of a professional such as a lawyer, doctor, architect or an accountant. We sue these professionals on behalf of our clients. Through this Blog I hope you will both better understand what it is that we do when we sue doctors, lawyers or other professionals who have behaved badly, but also that you may find a way to avoid this very same thing from happening to you or someone you love.

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