You think that your case should be an easy win. Maybe you’re suing another business owner for breach of contract. In your mind, it’s very clear that they broke that contract and cost you money. You wish you didn’t even have to go to court, but they won’t pay you without a verdict, so you do.
Then you lose. The judge decides that the other owner did not break the contract or that it didn’t harm you financially. You get nothing. After you hear the result, you can’t believe it. Now you’re losing even more money because you have to cover the court costs. How could this have happened?
Quickly, you blame your lawyer. They lost the case for you. That must be malpractice. No one should have lost this case. Did they wrong you? Is it now time to sue your lawyer?
It may be, but remember that losing the case on its own is not enough to count as legal malpractice. You have to show that something the lawyer did or failed to do gave you an outcome you wouldn’t have had otherwise.
For instance, maybe the lawyer was negligent and lost some of the evidence you gave them. It was impossible to recreate. Or maybe the lawyer missed deadlines that they knew about for weeks or months, and you lost on a technicality.
Losing isn’t malpractice on its own, but the reason that you lost may be. If you think so, you need to know what steps you can take.