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A Quick Explanation of Legal Malpractice
Posted by: Jason Reese
August 27, 2008
Topic: Legal Malpractice
Just like doctors, accountants, engineers, or other professionals, attorneys have a duty to exercise reasonable care in representing their clients. Legal malpractice is the negligent practice of law, breach of fiduciary duty, or breach of contract by an attorney that causes damage to his or her client. In order to prove legal malpractice, the injured party (client) must first prove that the attorney made critical errors that no reasonable attorney would make under the circumstances and that, due to those errors, the client suffered damages. Poor strategy or losing a case after a trial by judge or jury would generally not be considered legal malpractice. The most common legal malpractice claims arise when an attorney misses a statute of limitations or other deadline causing the claim to be dismissed or making the claim ineligible for filing with the Court. Malpractice claims can also arise when attorneys fail to disclose a conflict of interest or otherwise act in their own interest instead of in the interest of their clients.
For more information, call or email the attorneys at Wagner Reese & Crossen. Indiana Legal Malpractice occurs more often than you think. We are one of the rare law firms willing to hold attorneys within our own profession accountable for their conduct.
