New York City Legal Malpractice Lawyer

Your lawyer is working for you – so they should be keeping you informed about your case and any developments. If they’re not returning client calls, not relaying settlement offers, and avoiding client communication can result in a client not receiving the representation they deserve.

Lawyers should treat communications with clients as confidential matters. Openly discussing your claim can risk damaging your position in your case and could result in damages for you.

As the person who has suffered damages, you’re the person who should be making decisions about your case. If this isn’t the case, your attorney could be guilty of medical malpractice.

For instance, if a personal injury lawyer decides to settle your case without very clear approval from you, they are not including your in the decision making process as they should.

A ‘conflict of interest’ occurs when a lawyer is involved with a case that compromises how they represent your case. Your best interests should always be your attorney’s best interests – so if they’re not, you may be able to bring a legal malpractice claim.

There’s a lot that can go wrong with a civil litigation case – so your lawyer needs to focused and competent when they represent you. They should file your claim in a timely fashion, find the right defendant, handle discovery correctly, comply with the court, present evidence correctly, use witnesses correctly, object to a improper conduct by the defense, and appeal if appropriate.

If even one of these steps is mishandled, it can lead to diminished compensation for you – or, in the worst cases, a requirement for you to pay compensation to the other party.

As attorneys, we’re held to very high standards. If your lawyer fails to behave with the same level of care and attention that other attorneys apply to the same kind of work, they could be guilty of outright professional negligence. Most legal malpractice claims involve some element of negligent behaviour by a law firm or attorney.

When you pay a New York attorney, they have a strict ‘fiduciary duty’ – meaning they should not mix your funds with their own as they handle your case. If this ‘commingling’ of funds occurs, it can lead to embezzlement – either unintentionally or intentionally. If you think your funds are being mishandled, you could have a legal malpractice case.

Due diligence is the process that all lawyers should carry out to ensure the evidence they present is strong and valid. This means an in-depth investigation on behalf of the law firm – which, if not done correctly, can severely compromise your case. If the correct levels of due diligence are not being carried out on your case, you may be able to sue for legal malpractice.

There is an extremely strict set of rules that state how a New York attorney should act when they represent you. If your lawyer breaches any part of this New York Code of Professional Ethics and you have suffered damages as a result, you are right to explore legal malpractice litigation.

As your case approaches trial and is then heard in a New York court, your lawyer should be fully prepared and fully competent. This means handling any settlement offer correctly – including allowing you to make fully informed decisions around how to proceed. It also means providing the highest-standard of legal representation against any defense.