What is Legal Malpractice?
Legal malpractice occurs when an attorney fails to provide competent and professional services that meet the legal standard of care, resulting in harm to their client. This professional misconduct can manifest in various forms, from administrative oversights to serious breaches of ethical conduct. Legal malpractice undermines trust in the legal profession and can inflict significant emotional and financial harm on clients. Victims may face lost claims, financial depletion, and the emotional distress of feeling betrayed by a trusted advisor. It’s not just about the immediate legal losses, but also about the broader impact on one’s life and faith in the justice system.
Recognizing the signs of legal malpractice is crucial for clients to protect their interests and seek appropriate remedies. If you think you’ve experienced legal malpractice with a current or former attorney, contact our Baltimore legal malpractice lawyer today for a free consultation.
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Common Forms of Legal Malpractice
- Failure to Meet Deadlines – Focus on Statute of Limitations: One of the most critical deadlines in the legal field is the statute of limitations, which sets the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. When an attorney fails to file a complaint within this time frame, the client’s case can be irrevocably harmed, as the client loses the right to have the case heard in court. This not only affects the immediate legal action but also permanently bars the client from seeking compensation for their grievances through the court system. Understanding and adhering to these deadlines is a fundamental aspect of legal practice and failing to do so is often grounds for a malpractice claim.
- Incompetence: If an attorney takes on a case outside their area of expertise without adequate knowledge or preparation, their lack of competence can lead to poor advice and mismanagement of the case. This can occur, for example, if a defense lawyer takes on a significant product liability case for a plaintiff; or if a personal injury attorney takes on a complex divorce matter. The failure to act within your area of competence and experience can easily lead to occurrences of malpractice.
- Mishandling of Client Funds: Attorneys are trusted with the financial aspects of legal proceedings, including managing escrow accounts. Misappropriation or mismanagement of these funds constitutes serious malpractice. When attorneys use these funds for purposes other than what they are explicitly intended for, or fail to account for them properly, they breach the fiduciary trust placed in them by their clients. Such actions can lead to significant financial losses for clients and severe repercussions for the attorney, including disciplinary action or disbarment. There is nothing more serious in the eyes of a state’s disciplinary counsel than stealing client money. For good reason.
Client Abandonment Close to Statute of Limitations
A particularly egregious form of legal malpractice occurs when a law firm accepts a client for investigation but then drops them too close to the statute of limitations, leaving insufficient time to find alternative legal representation.
So, by way of example, let’s say a person is hurt at a construction site, and there may be complicated matters involved in the investigation. Sometimes, lawyers are quick to sign up clients, but not too quick at investigating. If matters get lost in the shuffle, your case may not be worked up appropriately, and the lawyer, recognizing there is an impending statute of limitations, declines representation only a few days or weeks before the statute of limitations is set to expire. Now, you’re left in an untenable position, as few if any lawyers will take on the responsibility of conducting an investigation of a major case with only a few weeks remaining before the expiration of the statute of limitations. So, while the statute of limitations has not expired, the conduct of the attorney may have left the client effectively locked out of court.
This practice not only betrays the trust placed in the firm by the client but also strategically precludes the client from having a fair chance to pursue their case with another lawyer. Such actions can be seen as both unethical and a breach of the duty of care owed to the client. Clients who find themselves abandoned in this manner may have a valid malpractice claim against the original law firm, especially if they can demonstrate that the firm’s withdrawal from their case adversely affected their ability to seek legal remedy.
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Proving Legal Malpractice
The key to a successful legal malpractice claim is proving that the attorney’s actions deviated from the standard of care expected in the legal profession, directly causing harm to the client.
This involves:
- Establishing the Attorney-Client Relationship: Demonstrating that an attorney-client relationship existed, which created a duty of care. This is often established through formal agreements, documented exchanges, or evidence that the attorney actively represented the client’s interests in legal matters even if there is no formal retention agreement.
- Proving Negligence: Showing that the attorney’s actions were negligent in comparison to what a reasonably competent attorney would have done under similar circumstances. This involves a detailed examination of the attorney’s performance against the accepted legal standards and practices in the area of law relevant to the case. It is useful to compare the attorney’s conduct with the Rules of Professional Responsibility for the state where the alleged malpractice occurred.
- Linking the Damage: Connecting the attorney’s negligence directly to the harm suffered, whether it be financial loss, loss of a legal opportunity, or other damages. It’s essential to demonstrate that the outcome of the client’s case would have been materially different had the attorney not been negligent. In order to bring a legal malpractice case, given the time and financial commitment involved, the losses to the plaintiff must be significant.
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Proving Legal Malpractice: The “Case within a Case”
A legal malpractice case is both time and resource intensive. In a legal malpractice trial, the victim of malpractice has to prove two things. First, that the underlying case was winnable; and second, the existence of legal malpractice that caused the plaintiff to suffer an economic harm. The need to prove the underlying malpractice in the legal malpractice case is referred to as the “case within a case.”
More specifically, the first critical element you must prove is that the underlying case your lawyer handled had merit—that it was winnable, or that a more favorable outcome was possible had the case been competently managed. This involves reconstructing the original case under the presumption of competent legal representation. You need to present a compelling narrative and evidence showing that if your attorney had acted within the standards expected of their profession, the case would likely have resulted in a win or a significantly better resolution for you. So, for example, if your case involved a defective drug or device, you need to prove your case that the product was defective or that the company was negligent, and that the defect or negligence was the cause of the injury. This requires the same expert testimony you would need had the case actually been tied.
Following that, the plaintiff must also put on proof of legal malpractice which requires its own set of expert witnesses. Usually, the retained expert is a lawyer who can testify to the standard of case, that is, what a reasonably prudent attorney would have done under the circumstances, that that standard was breached in this case, and that a typical competent attorney would have likely succeeded under similar circumstances. This might include detailed analysis of legal strategies not employed, crucial motions never filed, or potential settlements not pursued that could have clearly benefited the case.
The second component is proving causation—that is, linking your attorney’s specific negligence to the negative outcome of your case. This means you must show compelling evidence that it was not just the unfavorable circumstances of the original case, but specifically your lawyer’s mishandling of it that caused the harm you experienced. This could be due to a variety of failings, such as:
- Missing Critical Deadlines: Demonstrating how failing to file documents on time, especially if it led to the case being dismissed or rights being forfeited.
- Providing Poor Legal Advice: Evidence that you were guided to make decisions based on inaccurate or incomplete legal counsel, which directly resulted in losses or missed opportunities.
- Inadequate Preparation or Representation: Showing how lack of preparation for trial, failure to gather key evidence, or inadequate presentation in court proceedings directly impacted the outcome.
The causation element is often the most challenging to prove, as it requires not only showing that your attorney made mistakes, but that these specific mistakes were the direct cause of your losing the case or suffering other legal damages.
Jenner Law Represents Victims of Legal Malpractice
Over the past two years, Jenner Law successfully resolved two significant legal malpractice cases. In the first case, two personal injury defense attorneys, lacking any experience in plaintiff representation, agreed to take on a woman’s claim involving a defective orthopedic implant. Rob Jenner, with nearly four decades of experience prosecuting defective medical device cases, knew the intricacies of the mass tort process. Unfortunately, the woman’s attorneys failed to file her complaint before the statute of limitations expired. In fact, they never filed her claim at all, misleading her into believing she was in line for compensation. Jenner Law stepped in, filing the case in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, and secured a favorable resolution prior to trial.
In a second case, another attorney failed to file two lawsuits on behalf of a client involved in separate automobile accidents. Once again, the statute of limitations had expired, and the client had not been informed that no lawsuits were ever filed. After our firm took over, we successfully settled the matter, obtaining compensation for the client that exceeded what he would have received in the original car accident cases.
Know Your Rights and Seek Justice with a Legal Malpractice Lawyer
Victims of legal malpractice do not have to sit idly by or write off their losses as unavoidable. Understanding your rights and the legal avenues available is the first step toward holding a negligent lawyer accountable and restoring your faith in the legal system. If you believe you have been a victim of legal malpractice, it is crucial to act promptly to preserve your rights and seek justice.
Call or text (888) 585-2188 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form