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How to Sue Your Attorney for Malpractice

If you wish to sue your attorney over malpractice, you must prove that their negligence caused financial, legal or other negative effects for you. It's not enough to show that the negligence of your attorney was injurious it is also necessary to establish a direct link between the breach and the resulting outcome.

Legal malpractice is not a issues of strategy. However, if you lose a case due to your lawyer failed to file the lawsuit on time, this could be negligence.

Fraud in the use of funds

Misuse of funds by a lawyer is among the most common forms of legal malpractice. Attorneys are required to fulfill a fiduciary duty to their clients and must act with integrity and fidelity when handling funds or any other property that the client has entrusted them with.

If a client is required to pay their retainer the lawyer is obligated by law to put that money in a separate escrow fund that is only used for that particular case. If the lawyer co-mingles the escrow account with personal funds or utilizes it for any other purpose, this is a clear breach of fiduciary duty, and could be considered legal misconduct.

Imagine, for example that a client hires an attorney to represent the client in a lawsuit filed against a driver whose car hit them as they crossed the street. The client has the ability to prove driver's negligence as well as that the collision resulted in the injuries they sustained. Their lawyer, however, does not follow the law and is unable to file the case on time. The lawsuit is dismissed, and the victim is liable for financial loss as a result of the lawyer's error.

The statute of limitations restricts the amount of time you can bring a lawsuit against a lawyer for malpractice. It can be difficult to calculate when the loss or injury was caused by the attorney's negligence. A competent New York attorney with experience in the field of malpractice law will be able to explain the time limit to you and assist you to determine if your case is a good candidate for a legal malpractice lawsuit.

Do not follow the professional rules of conduct

Legal malpractice is when an attorney fails to follow generally accepted professional standards and inflicts harm on the client. It has the same four elements as the majority of torts, which include an attorney-client relationship, a duty, a breach, and proximate causality.

A few examples of malpractice include lawyers who mix personal and trust funds, not submitting claims in time to file suit within timeframes, pursuing cases in which they aren't competent, failing to carry out an examination of conflicts and not being up to date on court proceedings or any recent legal developments that could impact the case. Lawyers are also required to communicate with clients in a reasonable manner. This does not only include the use of faxes and email, but also resolving telephone calls promptly.

It is also possible for attorneys to commit fraud. This can happen in a variety of ways, such as lying to the client or to anyone involved in a case. It is crucial to know the facts in order to determine if the attorney was insincere. A breach of the attorney-client agreement occurs when an attorney is able to handle cases outside their area of expertise without advising the client or suggesting they seek independent counsel.

Inability to advise

When a client engages an attorney, it indicates that their legal issue has been beyond their expertise and knowledge. They cannot resolve the issue by themselves. It is the job of the lawyer to inform clients of the merits of a particular case as well as the risks and costs involved and their rights. A lawyer who fails to provide this advice could be held accountable.

Many legal malpractice claims arise because of poor communication between attorneys, and their clients. An attorney may not return phone calls or fail to inform their clients of a specific decision that they have made on their behalf. An attorney might not also communicate vital details regarding a particular case, or not disclose any known issues in the transaction.

It is possible to sue an attorney for malpractice, but a client must show that they suffered financial losses as a result of the lawyer's negligence. These losses should be documented. This requires evidence, such as email files and client files, or any other correspondence between an attorney and client, and also bills. In cases of theft or fraud it could be required to get an expert witness to look into the case.

Inability to Follow the Law

Attorneys must abide by the law and understand the law's implications for specific situations. If they don't, they could be guilty of misconduct. Examples include mixing funds from clients with theirs, using settlement proceeds to pay for personal expenses and failing to exercise basic due diligence.

Other examples of legal malpractice include failing to file a lawsuit within the statute of limitations or missing deadlines for filing with the court and not complying with the Rules of Professional Conduct. Attorneys are also required to disclose any material conflicts of interests. This means that they have to inform clients of any financial or personal concerns that could impact their judgment when representing them.

Additionally, attorneys are required to abide by the instructions of their clients. Attorneys must follow the instructions of clients unless it is obvious that the decision would not be beneficial.

To prevail in a malpractice lawsuit, the plaintiff has to demonstrate that the lawyer did not fulfill his duty of care. It can be challenging to prove that the defendant's lapses or actions caused harm. It's not enough to prove the result of the negligence of the attorney was detrimental and for a malpractice case to succeed, it needs to be proven that there is a high likelihood that the plaintiff could have won their case should the defendant followed the accepted practice.