Legal Malpractice Issues
The legal industry had to make significant adjustments to continue to serve clients during the pandemic, which raises the question of what impact that has had on attorney malpractice. According to one survey beginning in 2019 but completed during mid-2020 when the...
Were you harmed because your attorney did not include a key term in a business agreement or personal contract? Failure to include a crucial contractual provision may be the basis for a legal malpractice, attorney negligence or breach of fiduciary duty claim if it...
When the verdict goes against you in court, it can be shocking – and expensive. This is especially upsetting if you believe it was because of your lawyer’s negligence. An attorney has an ongoing duty when representing a client in litigation to exercise reasonable care...
In an attorney-client relationship, the lawyer owes a reasonable duty of care to the client within the scope of the representation. Should an attorney act in a client matter inconsistently with taking reasonable care, and violation of this duty harms the client, they...
We have written about the requirement of an attorney-client relationship for a legal malpractice claim to succeed. In addition, we previously described a narrowly defined group of third-party beneficiaries of attorney-client relationships with standing to sue a lawyer...
When parties anticipate a friendly commercial deal or business transaction, they may consider retaining the same attorney or law firm to handle all the associated legal work rather than each of them hiring their own counsel. Joint representation sounds efficient and...
In part 1 of this post, we described the investigation and discovery phases of a trial. Today, we will share ways in which lawyers might commit legal malpractice during these processes. Missing important evidence An attorney owes their client whom they represent in a...
Part of an attorney’s legal duty to their client in a lawsuit is uncovering evidence of what happened to cause the dispute. Initially, the lawyer will investigate the facts to learn whether the client has a valid claim. If enough evidence exists to support the case...
To meet their professional obligations to their clients, attorneys who represent divorcing spouses must be highly knowledgeable about state divorce laws – and many lawyers are. Often highly skilled in the negotiation of marital settlement agreements and in courtroom...
It is common for many lawsuits to settle before reaching the courtroom or even during the trial phase. A settlement agreement between parties in litigation is a negotiated contract to resolve the dispute without proceeding to a verdict. A settlement provides finality...