You may end up shocked and dismayed when you find out the attorney you trusted with your case has failed you. Attorneys have professional obligations and owe you certain duties under the law once you hire them to represent you. If your lawyer has caused you damage because they acted unreasonably under the circumstances, you may be able to file a legal malpractice case against them to recover the damages they caused you.
Legal malpractice cases rely on the same standard as personal injury cases. You may be entitled to compensation from your attorney if they were negligent and their conduct caused you harm. You have the burden of proof, and winning a legal malpractice case is not always easy. Working with an experienced legal malpractice attorney, you may be able to get justice and accountability.
How to Prove Legal Malpractice?
You are not automatically entitled to compensation in a legal malpractice case just because you did not receive the result that you wanted. However, if you get an unfavorable result because of something your lawyer did or did not do, you may be able to file a lawsuit.
In every legal malpractice case, you must prove the following elements:
- There was an attorney-client relationship in place;
- The lawyer was negligent in their representation of you;
- The lawyer’s actions were the cause of your damages.
Proving Causation in a Legal Malpractice Case
One of the biggest challenges in a legal malpractice case is proving that you had a meritorious case in the first place that your attorney mishandled. Often, there is a “trial within a trial,” where the court would review the merits of your initial case to determine whether you may have one had you received competent legal representation. Only then may you show how your lawyer’s carelessness harmed you. In many cases, a lawyer will freely admit that they were negligent, but their defense will rest on the fact that you would have obtained the same result anyway, no matter what they did.
The nature of your case may be different if you were not involved in contested litigation. Your lawyer could also have been negligent by poorly drafting documents or failing to give you key legal advice when signing a contract. Then, you may need to engage in a series of what-ifs to determine how much you lost because of the lawyer’s wrongful conduct and what may have happened had they done their job properly.
Contact a Hunterdon County Legal Malpractice Lawyer at Tune Law Group, LLC for Answers to Your Questions
Contact a Hunterdon County legal malpractice lawyer at Tune Law Group, LLC if you believe your attorney has caused you harm because of their negligent actions. We will review your case and let you know if you have a potential legal malpractice lawsuit against the attorney. We offer free consultations to prospective clients, and you can schedule one by calling us today at 908-434-1061 or by contacting us online. Located in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, we serve clients in and around Hunterdon County, Monmouth County, Whitehouse, and Tewksbury.