Happy Thanksgiving

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Common Legal Malpractice Issues in Connecticut

Connecticut attorneys are licensed and sworn to provide fair and honest legal services. They have a fiduciary duty to represent their client’s best interests. When lawyers in Connecticut breach their fiduciary duties, they may be liable for legal malpractice. When Connecticut lawyers commit legal malpractice, we can help.

In Connecticut, legal malpractice encompasses many types of negligent and unethical behaviors by lawyers. Legal malpractice can rise when an attorney:

-Lets a statute of limitation or deadline pass
-Puts his or her interests before the client’s
-Has a conflict of interest
-Fails to properly investigate and perform discovery
-Makes errors during the course of trial
-Improperly settles a case without a client’s authorization
-Improperly drafts important legal documents
-Negligently conducts property title searches

These attorney errors can have serious financial, legal and emotional consequences to clients. These errors are often a result of lawyers being overworked or understaffed – but that is no excuse. When lawyers screw up like this, they may be liable for Connecticut legal malpractice, and we can help.

Attorney Trial Errors Can Lead to Connecticut Legal Malpractice

Sometimes lawyers drop the ball during trials and commit errors that end up costing their clients money. This can lead to a legal malpractice claim for the client in Connecticut.

Common errors include failing to put forward all of the necessary evidence to prove their case. Deadlines for witnesses and expert disclosures can come and pass, and a client’s trial can move forward without valuable evidence. These trial errors often occur due to inadequate preparation by Connecticut lawyers.

Many Connecticut lawyers commit legal trial errors by failing to make proper objections during trial, or failing to keep evidence out before or during trial. Sometimes irrelevant evidence that should not be admitted gets into trial evidence because of a lawyer’s inattention.

These and other trial errors can make a big difference in a client’s future and are just a few examples of trial errors that could result in Connecticut legal malpractice – but we can help.

Title Searches: Fertile Ground for Legal Malpractice in Connecticut

Before issuing a title insurance policy, insurance companies rely on the knowledge and expertise of lawyers to handle title searches. In turn, real estate developers trust attorneys to address Connecticut title related issues. When Connecticut real estate lawyers screw this up, the costs to clients can be through the roof - but we can help.

Before signing off on a title search, lawyers should properly inform their clients of the condition of the title to the real property. If the title is not properly cleared and someone else makes some claim on that property, the client may be faced with costly litigation, or worse a significant devaluation of the property. Improper title searches may result in a client not being aware of easements on their property. Easements and covenants can restrict the owner’s ability to use the land. When these are not known before a real estate transaction is closed, the result is that a client may now own property that is unusable for its intended purpose. These are screw ups that lawyers should never allow to happen – but we can help.

Zoning changes are another key area where real estate lawyers mess up. Real estate is only as valuable as its available uses. When Connecticut lawyers fail to properly address land use issues such as zoning before the real estate transaction is closed, the client may be left with a property they cannot use.

Real Estate Related Legal Malpractice May Be On The Rise

Times have changed. A few years ago, when the real estate market was rising, an attorney’s errors and omissions when handling real estate transactions were often overlooked. If a piece of property proved unsuitable for its intended use after a transaction was completed, the property was often sold at a profit with minimal harm to the client.

However, with the recent downturn in the real estate market, once inconsequential mistakes have become serious liabilities. Real estate related legal malpractice in Connecticut may develop as a result of many different types of errors including, zoning issues, title issues, title insurance issues and contract errors. With the value of property falling rapidly, property owners cannot afford to be seriously harmed by lawyer screw ups surrounding their real estate transaction. These errors are easily avoidable but when they do happen – we can help.

Misrepresenting Potential Damage Awards May Lead to Legal Malpractice in Connecticut

Honest communication between Connecticut lawyers and clients is very important. It is perhaps most important when discussing settlement. When discussing settlement with the opposing side, lawyers cannot keep their clients in the dark.

Cases of legal malpractice in Connecticut often arise out of a lawyer’s failure to keep clients informed of settlement offers from insurance companies in personal injury cases. Often, insurance companies have policy settlement limits that the lawyer is aware of, but the client is not. Seeking to make a quick buck, sometimes lawyers will not even file the law suit at all but will urge the client to settle for the policy settlement limit without informing the client that it is the settlement limit. Lawyers are under an ethical duty to keep their clients reasonably informed when asking them to make settlement decisions. If issues like these arise while your Connecticut attorney is representing you; we can help.

Laywers Who Fail To Reveal A Conflict Of Interest May Face A Legal Malpractice Action In Connecticut

During litigation in Connecticut, lawyers must be mindful of their ethical obligation to put a client’s interests above all others. The Connecticut Rules of Professional Conduct do not allow an attorney to represent a person against a former client in the same case, or in a related matter, or to argue information connected to an earlier representation to the disadvantage of a former client.

For example, if an attorney has a business or personal relationship that causes a client to suspect that their confidential information was disclosed to another to the detriment of the client, the lawyer has created a conflict of interest. If the conflict of interest works to the disadvantage of the client, the Connecticut lawyer might be liable for legal malpractice in Connecticut. Located in West Hartford, CT, we can help with Connecticut legal malpractice issues, like conflicts of interest, all over the state.