When you went to your new attorney, you thought the first meeting went well. They guaranteed you that your case would be successful based on everything that they saw.
You went through the entire process and finally went to trial. There, you thought you had the case won before it even begun. Unfortunately, you didn’t get the outcome you expected.
Now, you’re frustrated. You felt like this was a straightforward case, and your attorney should have won it for you. You’d been offered settlements that were fair, but they suggested that you’d get more at trial, so you went forward with it.
This could be a case of malpractice
There are a few problems with this kind of case. For one, no attorney should guarantee results, because there is no way to predict a judge or jury’s response to a case.
Second, thinking that a case is winnable at trial doesn’t mean that an attorney is free to tell a client not to consider a fair settlement. Trial is unpredictable, but a settlement isn’t. A settlement may be fair and something that would guarantee success compared to a trial where errors could be made.
What should you do if you feel your case was mishandled?
In a situation like this, an attorney may be liable for the mistakes they made. It may be a good idea to speak with a different attorney or other legal professionals to determine if malpractice took place. If they believe that it did, you could pursue a legal malpractice case against your past attorney and seek damages. Our site has more information on the steps to take next.