There are many ways in which Florida attorneys and others across the country could commit legal malpractice. For instance, substantive errors are the cause of 46% of all malpractice claims. Substantive errors typically include failing to know the law or failing to apply it in a meaningful way in a given case. However, they can also include not meeting a deadline or not doing enough during the discovery phase of a proceeding.
Administrative errors account for another 28.5% of all legal malpractice claims. An administrative error can include losing a document or not filing it in a timely manner. Procrastination is another type of administrative mistake that could lead to a malpractice lawsuit. If a task is delegated to another person, the attorney overseeing the case should take steps to check that person’s work. Intentional wrongs include fraud, violating a person’s civil rights or not taking steps to keep client and attorney funds separate.
Intentional wrongs constitute about 12% of all malpractice claims, but they may be the ones that receive the most attention from the media or others paying attention to an attorney’s actions. Finally, attorneys may be subject to malpractice claims if they don’t follow a client’s instructions. This can be true whether an attorney intended to do so or if it was the result of poor communication between the parties.
Attorneys who engage in intentional wrongdoings or other acts of negligence may be the subject of legal action brought by their clients. An individual may be entitled to compensation that may have been lost because of an attorney’s inability to do his or her job properly. Emails, phone call logs and other evidence may be used to show that an attorney failed to take timely action to meet the needs of a client.