Helping Legal Malpractice Victims Right The Wrong
http://www.lawsays.net/articles/8078/1/Helping-Legal-Malpractice-Victims-Right-The-Wrong/Page1.html
Chris Zachar
Chris Zachar is a Phoenix Personal Injury Lawyer who has practiced law in Arizona since 1992. He graduated from Arizona State University in Tempe in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science. In 1992, Chris graduated from the University of Arizona College of Law in Tucson with his Juris Doctor Degree. He is admitted to practice law in all city, county and state courts in Arizona. By Chris Zachar
Published on 07/8/2011
When you hire an attorney, you trust you will get the services that were promised or could reasonably be expected from the attorney's performance.
If you or a loved one has been a legal malpractice victim, you need to hire a personal injury lawyer in Phoenix to assist you with your case as soon as possible. A personal injury lawyer in Phoenix is usually familiar with not only physical injuries but also other kinds, such as property and monetary damages. When you hire an attorney, you trust you will get the services that were promised or could reasonably be expected from the attorney's performance.
When the actual results are grossly disproportionate to what was specifically promised to you or could have reasonably been expected, you may have been a victim of legal malpractice.
While there may circumstances where legal malpractice may be wanton or willful, or even intentional, most of the time the deficiency of legal representation that resulted in legal malpractice is caused by the attorney (or attorney's representative's or agent's) negligence. Other than intentional acts, negligence is the most common kind of tort (i.e., civil wrongdoing) that drives lawsuits.
For a case of negligence to survive, four requirements must be proven: (i) the defendant owed a duty to conform to a specific standard of care for the protection of the plaintiff against an unreasonable risk of injury; (ii) the defendant breached that duty; (iii) the defendant's breach actually and proximately caused, (iv), the plaintiff's damages. Upon a showing - usually by a preponderance of the evidence, which means "more likely than not" - of the above requirements of negligence, and absent any successful affirmative defenses, the defendant will be liable to the plaintiff for negligence.
Legal malpractice is no exception to the requirements listed above to show a case of negligence. A lawyer owes a duty to his or her client to conform to a standard of reasonable care for the client's legal representation as would other attorneys in a similar community under the same circumstances. Additionally, if a lawyer breaches that duty and such breach actually and proximately - meaning that there was no intervening cause that cut off the lawyer's liability for the breach - caused the client's damages, the lawyer may be liable for negligence (i.e., legal malpractice).
When a lawyer is incompetent, or is not reasonably prepared, or he or she does not fulfill specific promises made to you, the client, you may have a cause of action against the lawyer for negligence (provided the above requirements are satisfactorily shown). A personal injury lawyer in Phoenix handles negligence cases, including professional negligence.
While not all errors made by a lawyer amount to legal malpractice (such as, for instance, the lawyer's trial strategy), grave errors that would not have occurred but for the lawyer's negligence may be a good indicator that legal malpractice might have occurred. Any client may sue his or her lawyer, whether it's a personal injury lawyer or a lawyer specialized in some other field of law. The requirements for proving a case for negligence do not change (only the specific facts of the case do).
A personal injury lawyer in Phoenix can review your potential claim against a former lawyer that you think may have committed negligence. If the claim has merit, your current personal injury lawyer in Phoenix can then discuss goals and expectations of the case at hand and proceed accordingly, just like with any other case (e.g., automobile accidents caused by negligence, etc.)
When deciding who to hire to take on your legal malpractice case, not all lawyers are the same. A certified personal injury lawyer in Phoenix is most apt to carry your case and to help you increase your chances in recovering the most damages.
When the actual results are grossly disproportionate to what was specifically promised to you or could have reasonably been expected, you may have been a victim of legal malpractice.
While there may circumstances where legal malpractice may be wanton or willful, or even intentional, most of the time the deficiency of legal representation that resulted in legal malpractice is caused by the attorney (or attorney's representative's or agent's) negligence. Other than intentional acts, negligence is the most common kind of tort (i.e., civil wrongdoing) that drives lawsuits.
For a case of negligence to survive, four requirements must be proven: (i) the defendant owed a duty to conform to a specific standard of care for the protection of the plaintiff against an unreasonable risk of injury; (ii) the defendant breached that duty; (iii) the defendant's breach actually and proximately caused, (iv), the plaintiff's damages. Upon a showing - usually by a preponderance of the evidence, which means "more likely than not" - of the above requirements of negligence, and absent any successful affirmative defenses, the defendant will be liable to the plaintiff for negligence.
Legal malpractice is no exception to the requirements listed above to show a case of negligence. A lawyer owes a duty to his or her client to conform to a standard of reasonable care for the client's legal representation as would other attorneys in a similar community under the same circumstances. Additionally, if a lawyer breaches that duty and such breach actually and proximately - meaning that there was no intervening cause that cut off the lawyer's liability for the breach - caused the client's damages, the lawyer may be liable for negligence (i.e., legal malpractice).
When a lawyer is incompetent, or is not reasonably prepared, or he or she does not fulfill specific promises made to you, the client, you may have a cause of action against the lawyer for negligence (provided the above requirements are satisfactorily shown). A personal injury lawyer in Phoenix handles negligence cases, including professional negligence.
While not all errors made by a lawyer amount to legal malpractice (such as, for instance, the lawyer's trial strategy), grave errors that would not have occurred but for the lawyer's negligence may be a good indicator that legal malpractice might have occurred. Any client may sue his or her lawyer, whether it's a personal injury lawyer or a lawyer specialized in some other field of law. The requirements for proving a case for negligence do not change (only the specific facts of the case do).
A personal injury lawyer in Phoenix can review your potential claim against a former lawyer that you think may have committed negligence. If the claim has merit, your current personal injury lawyer in Phoenix can then discuss goals and expectations of the case at hand and proceed accordingly, just like with any other case (e.g., automobile accidents caused by negligence, etc.)
When deciding who to hire to take on your legal malpractice case, not all lawyers are the same. A certified personal injury lawyer in Phoenix is most apt to carry your case and to help you increase your chances in recovering the most damages.