What Is Considered Legal Malpractice?

When an attorney is representing you and they fall below the required standard of care in the community, and that causes you harm, you have a malpractice case.

Is A Legal Malpractice Claim The Same As A Grievance Or A Bar Complaint?

You can complain to the bar to have them investigate the attorney and potentially sanction the attorney administratively, but the bar is not going to get you compensation. A legal malpractice claim is what you file against the attorney to get compensated for the harm that they caused you by their mistakes. The two are not the same thing.

What Is The Most Common Reason That Someone Might Sue Their Attorney For Malpractice?

The most common malpractice complaint is that the attorney missed a deadline and, as a result, you have completely lost your ability to pursue a case. There are a wide variety of others.

What Is The Standard Of Care?

Standard of care is a term that is applied across all different kinds of malpractice cases. Specifically for attorney malpractice, it’s what a reasonable attorney, experienced in the area of law that they are representing you in, would have done in the same situation. For example, a reasonable attorney files their paperwork on time. If they don’t file their paperwork on time, they’ve fallen below their standard of care.

Does A Violation Of Legal Ethics Constitute A Breach In The Standard Of Care?

Ethics rules are there to make sure that attorneys are conducting themselves in a lawful manner. An ethical violation is not necessarily going to be a breach in the standard of care. Just because an attorney did something that is unethical, according to your Google research, doesn’t necessarily mean you have a valid legal malpractice claim.

What Is The Difference Between A Bad Tactical Decision And Legal Malpractice?

An attorney is going to give you tactical and strategic advice about your case. They’ll make suggestions as to what kinds of experts to hire, which witnesses to call, what evidence to show, and what evidence not to show. Those are all decisions that are within the discretion of the attorney. An attorney can be bad at those decisions without committing legal malpractice. Legal malpractice requires that they fall below the required standard of care and that’s a lower bar than being a particularly good attorney.

For more information on Legal Malpractice Claims In California, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (408) 687-9155 today.