Any legal matter should be free of any appearance of impropriety. That not only includes the actions and attitudes of the claimant and respondent, but also those of any of the attorneys and even the officers of the court involved in a case. “Impropriety” can include any number of different things, including any perception of influence or bias. For example, an attorney involved in a case should not have established professional relationships with others involved in a manner, as it may be perceived that those relationships could have an impact on the outcome of a case. Should such bonds exist between an attorney and another related party, that fact should be disclosed so that a client can choose whether or not to continue to have said attorney offer them representation.
A failure to do just that is at the heart of a recent legal malpractice lawsuit filed by a private funding company in Texas against a state representative. The representative has been hired to represent the company’s interest in a divorce case involving one of its clients. What the company’s representatives did not know was that the representative had previously formed a business with the judge presiding over the divorce case. When this fact was discovered, the judge was removed from the case and all of the orders he had issued were rescinded. At that point, the company had already spent millions on the case and did not have enough money to start the case over again.
People place a good deal of faith in their attorneys, and when that trust is abused, they may be justified in seeking action to recoup any financial losses they sustained as a result. Those needing to initiate such action may first want to secure the services of a legal malpractice attorney.