If an attorney violates a client’s trust, he or she could be committing malpractice. For many people, an attorney who doesn’t file paperwork on time or doesn’t return phone calls means missing court dates and spending money to get little done.
Attorneys have a responsibility to their clients. They owe them skillful and competent representation. They owe them a duty to act with compassion and to be cautious with their clients’ interests. Those who don’t take their cases seriously put their clients in harm’s way. It could mean a client goes to jail, or it could mean a client doesn’t get compensation for an injury.
How do you launch a successful legal malpractice case?
To win a legal malpractice lawsuit, you need to prove that the attorney breached his or her duty to you and that the breach resulted in you losing your case or getting less than you deserved out of a claim. For instance, if your attorney receives a settlement and accepts it for you without permission, you may be able to claim that you could have pursued higher compensation and that the attorney violated your trust by moving forward without your permission or without giving you information about whether or not this settlement was within an acceptable range.
Legal malpractice doesn’t only occur when you win or lose a case. It can happen when you’re preparing to make a claim or when you’re considering your options. For example, if you bring a case to an attorney and he or she suggests you don’t have any standing in court but it later turns out that you had enough evidence to pursue a lawsuit, you could accuse the attorney of not having enough legal knowledge or neglecting your request. Whatever the case may be, it’s your right to speak with another attorney to determine if you’ve been a victim of malpractice.