No lawyer wants to sue another lawyer, and yet, we like to criticize doctors for refusing to testify against one another in cases of medical malpractice. At the Law Offices of Michael G. Phelan, P.C., we believe that clients who have been wronged by legal malpractice deserve to have legal representation. If your lawyer caused you serious economic loss through the negligent handling of your case, The Law Offices of Michael G. Phelan, P.C wants to help you. Examples of legal malpractice include missing deadlines (e.g., statute of limitations, notice deadlines, service of process deadline, and other filing deadlines), failing to timely designate expert witnesses, failure to conduct discovery, conflicts of interest whereby the lawyer puts his or her interest or the interest of another client ahead of your interest, and mistakes in drafting documents.
Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Legal Malpractice
What is legal malpractice?
Legal malpractice is the failure of a lawyer to render competent professional service to a client. The professional conduct by a lawyer must not fall below the standard of care.
What is the standard of care for lawyers?
An attorney owes a duty to the client to perform all work on the case with the standard of care expected of a reasonably prudent lawyer under the same or similar circumstances.
How does one prove a breach of the standard of care?
This usually requires expert testimony. Another lawyer in the relevant field is hired to testify, based upon his or her experience, training and skill, what a reasonable lawyer would have done under the same circumstances.
Is it enough to prove that my former lawyer breached the standard of care?
No. In order to win a legal malpractice claim, one must also prove a causal connection between the attorney’s negligent conduct and the damage to the client.
Here is what must be proven to win a legal malpractice case:
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There was an attorney-client relationship between you and the attorney establishing a duty to act competently and professionally.
- Your former attorney breached that duty by negligent acts of commission or omission or by making a mistake that a reasonably competent lawyer would not have made.
- Your former attorney’s breach of his or her duty caused you damage. This typically means you must prove that but for your former attorney’s negligence, you would have won the underlying case for which you hired the former attorney.
- You suffered economic loss as a result of the legal malpractice.
NOTE: Even the best lawyers lose cases or cannot always protect your assets. Simply losing a case or failing to negotiate the best possible deal does not, in itself, constitute legal malpractice..
There are important time deadlines for filing a legal malpractice case, so contact a competent malpractice lawyer ASAP.
We, the law offices of Michael G. Phelan, P.C represent legal and medical malpractice victims, auto accident and truck accident victims, and sufferers of brain injury due to accident throughout the country and the Commonwealth of Virginia, including, Richmond, Petersburg, Portsmouth, Norfolk, Newport News, Fredericksburg, Henrico, Chesterfield, Fairfax, Louisa, Charlottesville, Roanoke, Harrisonburg, Stafford, Williamsburg, New Kent, Charles City, Hanover, and Goochland.