Legal Malpractice
What is legal malpractice?
Legal malpractice is the failure of a lawyer
to render competent professional service
to a client. If the client is damaged
as a result of the failure, he or she
may have a claim against the lawyer for
legal malpractice. There are two major
theories of liability:
1. Negligence
2. Breach of fiduciary duty
The most common used in malpractice cases
is negligence.
What is negligence?
An attorney owes a duty to the client to
perform all work relevant to a case within
the standard of care expected of the "average" attorney
in the same or a similar situation. If
the attorney fails to perform at the
level of an average attorney, there may
be negligence and liability for legal
malpractice. If an attorney presents
himself out to be an expert in an area
of law, the standard of care is that
of the "ordinary" expert in
the field.
What is "breach of Fiduciary Duty"?
An attorney is to act in the best interests
of his client. An attorney is required
to communicate and interact with the
client in an honest and candid manner
devoid of any deception, no matter how
slight. When an attorney puts his own
interests or those of a third party before
that of the client, that attorney is
breaching his "fiduciary duty" to
the client.
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