Professional malpractice is defined as the negligence or negligence of a professional, such as a doctor or lawyer. Misconduct is the failure to provide the quality and type of service that another lawyer would provide in the same circumstances and in accordance with generally accepted standards of care. If you believe your lawyer has committed malpractice, it`s likely that you don`t have the training and background to evaluate the legal services you`ve received – and it`s just as likely that you could benefit from Wagner McLaughlin`s expertise in this area of law. If a lawyer agrees to handle a matter for you, he or she implicitly represents that he or she has the necessary level of learning, skills and abilities necessary to practice the law that other lawyers in the same profession normally possess, and that he or she exercises reasonable and ordinary care and care in the use of his or her skills and the application of knowledge to the client`s case. To succeed in a case of legal error, you must prove the following: There is an error of law when a lawyer does not act in accordance with prohibited standards and codes of conduct. Failure to achieve the desired result in a case is not sufficient to justify professional misconduct: lawyers must have been negligent, in breach of contract, or otherwise in violation of the American Bar Association`s Code of Professional Conduct. In order to win a case of legal error against a lawyer, it must be proven that a typical lawyer would have won your case. Legal mistakes don`t just mean a lawyer lost your case; Losing can be frustrating, but it still happens. Frankly, lawyers are not immune to human error, so sometimes mistakes have to happen. As licensed professionals, lawyers are trusted to adhere to high ethical standards and protect the interests of their clients.
Unfortunately, this trust is sometimes misplaced. Many lawyers seem more interested in attracting clients than serving them effectively, and do little to protect their clients` interests. In an action for error of law, a customer may claim recovery of direct and indirect damages. Direct damages are compensation for the loss of the benefits expected from the lawyer`s services and for all costs incurred as a result of the lawyer`s failure to realize these benefits. The measure of direct damage is the difference between the amount actually recovered or paid and the amount that should have been recovered or paid. The measure of direct damages may also include punitive damages that have not been recovered or imposed. Direct damage can be the value of a lost settlement opportunity or the cost of an adverse settlement. Additional elements of direct damage may be attorneys` fees paid to the defendant lawyer and costs incurred to mitigate the loss of the anticipated profit.
There are timelines for filing malpractice claims, and we can advise you on these fairly complex timelines and exceptions to them. Malpractice lawsuits should never be brought lightly or to avoid honest guilt for professional services. You should be aware that a less than ideal outcome does not necessarily mean that malpractice has occurred. You may have achieved the best possible result in the circumstances of your case or, despite the outcome, the services or treatments provided may have been adequate. If you have been financially harmed by a lawyer`s negligence or willful misconduct, St. Denis & Davey`s experienced Florida legal error attorneys can serve you effectively. We want to undo the work of those who cannot be trusted on your behalf. Contact our offices today to schedule a confidential consultation with one of our lawyers. We can be reached at 1-800-785-2153. You can also send an email to our company to arrange your appointment. In the case of professional misconduct, the causal requirement is formulated negatively.
For example, it is often said that the client can only assert claims against the former lawyer if it can be proved that the damage suffered by the client would not have occurred “without” the lawyer`s negligence. In other words, the client must prove that it is solely because of the lawyer`s negligence that the client`s cause of action or defense against a claim in the underlying claim was unsuccessful. The American Bar Association outlines three elements to help determine whether a lawyer`s error qualifies as an error of law: After reviewing and evaluating your malpractice claim, we advise you if your potential claim is willing to pursue on your behalf and if we believe you have a valid legal error claim. Our representation is almost always on a contingency fee basis. That is, we accept as fees a percentage of any financial recovery that you can obtain either by settlement or by court judgment. As part of our written representation agreement, we agree to advance all reasonable and necessary costs to investigate and pursue your claim. We will only receive fees and our fees will be reimbursed if we are successful in asserting your claim. If there is no collection, you do not owe us anything. No fee will be due for our investigation or if, after our investigation, we decide that we cannot or do not want to deal with the case. The evidence can be difficult to uncover in a case of legal error, given how nuanced the legal industry is.
In addition, cases of legal error essentially involve two cases – a botched primary case and a secondary case dealing with mismanagement of the former. The legal team for the second case must be qualified both for errors of law and for the field of activity of the primary case. There is still an obstacle to overcome before you can recover against your former lawyer. Many malpractice lawsuits fail because the client cannot prove that even if a favorable judgment had been obtained, there would have been a solvent defendant who would have paid it. A claim that could not have been recovered, even if it had been the subject of full prosecution, cannot engage its liability for fault. The purpose of the solvency requirement is to prove whether the original defendant would have been able to pay a judgment if a judgment had been rendered against him. For a free, confidential consultation with a Miami attorney for legal error, call Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen today at (866) 629-1061. Although we are primarily a national law firm for legal errors, we can also work on domestic and international cases in the areas of contracts, trade, trade documents and import-export companies by working with local lawyers.