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Legal Malpractice Claims
Ironically, the legal profession has not emerged unscathed from
the modern trend toward litigation. There are a large number
of legal malpractice actions involving claims that an attorney
representing a client in court made an error that harmed the
client. These actions are complex and time-consuming.
In these actions, the plaintiff must prove that the prior trial
or transaction would have had a different result if the attorney
had not acted negligently. Proving that the outcome of the matter
was appropriate may require the plaintiff in the malpractice
action to retry the prior case as part of the legal malpractice
lawsuit.
Another key issue in a legal malpractice case is identifying
the party to whom an attorney is responsible. Traditionally,
attorneys are obligated to protect their clients and no one
else. In many cases, however, improper conduct of an attorney
may injure someone other than the client. For example, if an
attorney improperly drafts a client's will, the heirs - rather
than the client - may be harmed. Courts have begun to show more
willingness to hold attorneys liable for injuries to third parties
whose damages could have been anticipated. The rules governing
who can sue for legal malpractice damages vary widely between
states.
Our attorneys are experienced to counsel and defend lawyers
confronted with charges of malpractice in the areas of:
Litigation Malpractice, including claims of:
- failure to timely disclose expert witnesses
- inadequate discovery
- failure to tender a claim to a homeowner or business
insurance carrier
- failure to provide relevant evidence to trier
of fact (judge or jury)
- failure to follow a clients written instructions
- failure to plead or pursue provable theory
- failure to draft unambiguous contract
- failure to explore settlement potential
- failure to plead appropriate affirmative defense
Family Law Malpractice, including:
- overlooked assets
- failure to obtain guideline support (child and
spousal)
- failure to analyze and/or deal with stock options
- inadequate drafting of pre and post nuptial agreements
- inadequate drafting of QDRO
- failure to pursue settlement dialogue with opposing
counsel
- failure to appraise marital assets
See Also:
Legal Malpractice Claims: Ten Ways
to Avoid the Disciplinary System
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