Suing a Lying Lawyer

Suing a Lying Lawyer – One Who Intentionally or Negligently gets you to do Something by Perpetuating a Lie

Suing a lawyer is not hard – the law is clear a lawyer is responsible to his/her client if the lawyer screws up – is negligent. But what if the lawyer you want to sue was representing the other side. I wrote an article sometime ago limited to suing a lawyer for malpractice: 

http://www.stangerlaw.com/CM/Articles/SuingOpLawyer-BHSWinter2012Article.pdf which essentially says you can only sue a lawyer who was not representing you if the lawyer was hired to do something for you. But there is another way – you can sue a lawyer for lying or misrepresenting things. You can sue the other party’s lawyer for telling you an outright lie that is intended to get you to do something. Negligent misrepresentation by a lawyer or intentional misrepresentation by a lawyer could be the way you get damages you entitled to under our law.

Lawyer may have been negligent, but no malpractice

Even if the lawyer was negligent (committed malpractice) the case is not worth pursuing if the client was not hurt.  Without damages caused by the negligent act of the lawyer – technically there is no viable case.  See a recent article on just this situation. 

http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/Legal/News/2012/07_-_July/Lawyer_may_have_been_negligent,_but_no_malpractice__appeals_court/

Aurora Shooting

WHAT IF A LAWYER KNEW HIS CLIENT WAS GOING TO SHOOT UP A MOVIE THEATRE

There has been some speculation and facts about what James Holmes’ (Aurora Theatre) university or therapist may have known before as well as what duty they had to take action. 

Clients know that what they tell their lawyer is privileged.  The lawyer is not permitted to share that information with others.  Even if a client gives the details of a terrible crime that the client committed the lawyer is not permitted to tell anyone.  But what if the information that the client shares with the lawyer involves future conduct; the client tells the lawyer he is going to cause substantial harm to himself or to someone else. 

If a lawyer reasonably believes his or her client is going to cause substantial injury to himself or to someone else, the lawyer must take reasonable steps to prevent that harm.  It could be telling the police about a crime the client is going to commit.  Or it could be calling the clients family or doctor if the lawyer reasonably believes that the client is likely to hurt him or herself.  

The penalty for not speaking up is not criminal – it is that the lawyer could be reprimanded or disbarred by the courts in Connecticut. 

Should society create a duty for a professional to come forward?