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Answering Your Legal Malpractice Questions

At Makarem & Associates, we help individuals and families who have suffered as a result of legal malpractice. We believe this is a crucial facet of our practice, using our legal skills to help make things right for people when lawyers fail to rise to our profession’s standards.

Being let down by a professional you trusted to protect your interests and assert your legal rights leads to many questions. We hope that by providing the answers to some of the most common legal malpractice questions, we can begin to set your mind at ease as you consider your options for holding your former representative accountable.

Does the outcome of my case have any bearing on whether there was malpractice?

Yes and no. Yes in the sense that – if you obtained the best possible outcome despite your attorney’s missteps – there would be no reason to pursue a legal malpractice claim. After all, your interests were not harmed. No in the sense that simply losing your case is not ground for a legal malpractice claim. Smart, determined, thoughtful attorneys do their best yet come up short every day. Even an attorney who follows laws and procedures to the letter and never misses a deadline can still come up on the wrong side of a jury verdict or judge’s decision.

What constitutes legal malpractice?

For something to rise to the standard of legal malpractice, the following four elements must be proven in order to demonstrate negligence on the part of your attorney:

  • The lawyer in question owed you a duty to provide competent and skillful representation, and your lawyer breached that duty by making a mistake or acting recklessly.
  • The breach of duty resulted in injury or harm that caused a financial loss.

What are common examples of legal malpractice?

Some of the most common actions that can lead to a successful legal malpractice claim are a lawyer:

  • Failing to serve the interests of a client due to a financial conflict of interest
  • Not communicating on crucial decisions, such as demanding a settlement or accepting the terms of a settlement without the client’s consent
  • Failing to file a claim or otherwise take action for a client prior to the relevant statute of limitations
  • Not keeping a client informed of actions that will affect billing (traveling to take out-of-state witness statements, hiring outside experts, etc.)

Do I have a case for malpractice?

You may not have the benefit of an expansive legal education, but your human intuition counts for something. If you feel in your gut that your attorney screwed up, it is in your best interest to seek the advice of an experienced legal malpractice attorney who can help you sort out the facts in your case and devise a strategy for making things right.

It’s Time To Make Things Right. We Can Help.

You should not be left to bear the fallout alone after your attorney lets you down. Contact us today to schedule a free, confidential consultation with an experienced attorney from our firm.