100 years + of collective legal malpractice experience

What do you do when your attorney breaks your contract?

by | May 8, 2020 | Legal Malpractice |

You were very unhappy to find out that your attorney decided to drop your case. It wasn’t a problem that they didn’t want to work with you, exactly. It was more of an issue that they didn’t tell you that they didn’t want to work with you. On top of that, you’d signed a contract to work together.

You didn’t realize that your attorney had decided not to work with you until you went a few weeks with no response from the firm. You called and sent an email, but they didn’t bother to respond. Finally, you went into the office and asked the secretary. She said that your case wasn’t in process and that it had been dropped by the attorney. She was shocked that you didn’t know.

This kind of lack of communication is a serious problem. On top of that, you may have a breach of contract to deal with. Failing to tell a client that a case can’t be pursued or that an attorney wants out of a contract is a huge ethical concern, and it’s not fair to the client.

If you want to pursue a malpractice claim, you may want to take your case to a new attorney to discuss the elements of your case. You’ll need to show that you have suffered losses as a result of the breach of contract, that your attorney breached their duty of care to you and your case and that they did owe you a duty of providing skillful representation.

Your new attorney may want to see your contract, any information regarding your interactions with the other attorney and other paperwork you have. Prepare anything you have to support your case, so you can learn more about if you have been a victim of malpractice.