Law Firm Watchdog

LawFirmWatchDog.org Relaunches with Focus on Legal Malpractice News

 

Los Angeles, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/04/2015 -- Law Firm Watchdog (Lawfirmwatchdog.org) has relaunched its site to serve as a news and curation site for issues and court rulings that directly affect the status and scope of legal malpractice in all 50 states. Legal malpractice touches all areas of the law and may affect everyone regardless of age, sex, or income status.

For those members of the public who believe they may be the victims of legal malpractice, LawFirmWatchdog has just published a very helpful page: Three Important Points To Consider Before Suing Your Attorney For Malpractice.

This new posting will be very helpful and informative for those people whose legal counsel made significant errors while representing them. Among the most common errors of legal malpractice are cases where there is mishandling of funds, failure of attorneys to maintain adequate professional contact with the client in the conduct of a legal matter, and cases settled by an attorney without due permission from the client.

Lawfirm Watchdog seeks to inform its readers that all attorneys are bound by the standards of the bar association in the state where they are licensed that also governs the scope of attorney liability for any malpractice action. For those people who would seek to sue their former attorney, special consideration should be given to the fact that offending attorneys are allowed to defend him or herself against any allegations; so by filing a malpractice claim, a former client would waive attorney-client privilege they had with their former attorney.

Lawfirm Watchdog's readers should also be aware that legal malpractice cases are incredibly difficult to win because a plaintiff must prove not only that there was a binding contract with the offending attorney, but also that the attorney breached their duty which resulted in provable and quantifiable monetary damages in the original legal case in question.

In addition to these topical points, Law Firm Watchdog would also remind potential legal malpractice plaintiffs to assess the following three considerations before going forward to file a legal malpractice lawsuit:

1. Determine there is a solid case

Consider what an offending attorney did that might be used in a malpractice suit. There are three basic categories for a legal malpractice suit: negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of contract.

2. Determine if an offending attorney was negligent.

An attorney owes a duty to his or her client to act in the client's interest as a reasonably competent attorney. This means that the attorney must perform services at or beyond a minimum level of competence. If an attorney fails to demonstrate a minimum level of competence while working on a case, it can mean that attorney was negligent.

For example, if an attorney accepts a case, but then does nothing with it for several months and the statute of limitations on this case expires, the attorney may be considered negligent.

Other negligent behaviors include failing to meet important deadlines, failing to prepare for trial, and failing to follow court orders.

3. Determine if an offending attorney failed to provide fiduciary duty

Fiduciary duty means that an attorney is required to act in the client's best interest. As part of an attorney's fiduciary duty to the client, if an issue arises in which an action taken for the client's benefit will likely cause harm to the attorney, the attorney must act in the client's benefit in spite of the harm to self.

Remember that these duties are only owed if an attorney-client relationship is formed, otherwise the attorney does not owe a client these duties, and a plaintiff will not have a viable malpractice case.

Other ways that an attorney may breach fiduciary duty include:

- having a potential financial motivation to purposefully lose a case
- making sexual advances towards a client
- lying to a client about important case information
- failing to tell a client about settlement offers
- taking a lesser settlement without consulting the client
- using client funds without consulting the client
- revealing confidential information without client permission
- failing to disclose a conflict of interest

Potential legal malpractice plaintiffs should be aware that if an attorney failed to adhere to specific terms in their contract to represent the client, then the attorney may have breached the contract. Failing to file an action, research a specific item, or file a lien are some examples of how an attorney may breach a contract.

About Lawfirm Watchdog
Law Firm Watchdog seeks to provide an online space that serves its visitors by keeping the public informed about legal news and court rulings that directly affect former attorney clients and plaintiffs who are considering taking action against incompetent legal counselors.

Media Contact:
Company: Law Firm Watchdog
Contact Number: 415-636-9619
Contact person: Joe Spence
Business mail ID: Joe@lawfirmwatchdog.org
Url: http://lawfirmwatchdog.org/