As someone who has already faced a traumatic incident, the fact that you don’t think your attorney paid enough attention to your case or did his or her best to represent you could make you furious. There are situations in which attorneys don’t do their best for their clients, and in those cases, the clients may have a right to file a legal malpractice lawsuit.
Many kinds of legal malpractice occur, and you may need help identifying where your case went wrong. That means you’ll need to put your trust into a new attorney who can help you fight for compensation from the attorney who was supposed to help you win your initial case.
What kinds of acts are legal malpractice?
Many acts have the potential to qualify as malpractice. For instance, an attorney who doesn’t ever return your calls and who misses important dates in your case is certainly negligent. Likewise, an attorney who has a conflict of interests shouldn’t help with your case. In most situations, legal malpractice only occurs if you’ve lost compensation as a result of the attorney’s actions. If the attorney represented you fairly and you lost your case, that isn’t malpractice.
What can you do if you think legal malpractice happened?
You need to bring the concern up to a new attorney who focuses on legal malpractice cases. It’s hard, initially, to trust a different attorney, but remember that a good attorney is up front about his or her fees, responds in a timely manner and genuinely cares about the outcome of your case. Essentially, the attorney you choose to work with needs to act in a professional manner. If not, move on and find another with who you feel more comfortable working.
Legal malpractice hurts you when you’re already struggling. It’s important to do what you can to get compensated by attorneys who aren’t looking out for your best interests.