If you have ever retained an attorney in Florida, you should hopefully have received the level of professionalism and service that you deserve. Attorneys are bound to uphold strong standards and to work on behalf of their clients’ best interests. But, there are some times when problems may arise that leave the client not having received the proper level of service. What types of things may be involved in these situations?
As explained by the American Bar Association and one report it issued based upon data collected over a period of eight years, failure to know or to apply a law was the single biggest contributor to a case of potential legal malpractice. This was found to be involved in more than 11 percent of the cases that were studied. Many things might contibute to this such as if an attorney simply is not familiar with a particular law or statute yet acts and moves a case forward anyway.
Another problem may result when a lawyer actually takes the initiative to research law in a particular area but somehow misunderstands and therefore misapplies it. Still another problem may be when a lawyer learns about a law and simply fails to follow the spirit of it or what it would require them to do or not to do.
This information is not intended to provide legal advice but is instead meant to help give residents in Florida some idea of the broad range of things that may contribute to a viable and potentially compensable claim of legal malpractice.