Monday, December 27, 2010

How Do I Know If I Have a Legal Malpractice Case?

Clients often wonder what that they need to establish in order to bring a legal malpractice claim against their lawyer. Is the fact that my lawyer did something wrong enough? Do I need another lawyer to say that my lawyer screwed up?

The client, or legal malpractice lawyer that the client has hired, needs to prove several things in order to bring a legal malpractice claim. First, there has to be proof that the lawyer had a duty to the client to act properly. That is easy if you are a lawyer – there was a duty to take care of you. Next, there has to be proof that the lawyer breached that duty by acting negligently. This breach can be accomplished by proving that the lawyer made a mistake that an average lawyer would not have made. In some cases it is helpful to have another lawyer provide an opinion of what the lawyer should have done in the situation; that’s our job to find a lawyer to testify if we take on a case.

There also has to be proof that the lawyer’s negligent behavior caused damage to the client. Ultimately, did the lawyer’s negligence damage the client. This is just like a car accident case; did the other diver’s negligence injure someone.

The best way for a client to determine whether or not they have the necessary elements to justify bringing a legal malpractice claim is to call one of our experienced legal malpractice attorneys and ask there is no charge for the call. We are here to help.

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