Attorney negligence, also known as legal malpractice, can be difficult to prove. It requires establishing an attorney-client relationship, proving negligence, demonstrating a close relationship between the negligence and negative outcome, and proving actual damages. Without these elements, most cases will be dismissed. Punishment for repeated malpractice can include legal disbarment.
Attorney’s negligence is an action or inaction that adversely affects the outcome of a lawsuit for the client of an attorney who commits the malpractice. This type of malpractice can sometimes be difficult to prove and there are a number of things that usually need to be proven to establish this type of malpractice. Someone will usually need to establish an attorney-client relationship with an attorney accused of malpractice and prove that malpractice has occurred. He will then have to demonstrate a close relationship between the negligence and the negative outcome, and thus demonstrate that the actual damages occurred due to the attorney’s negligence.
Also called legal malpractice, attorney’s malpractice is a somewhat complicated issue that can be difficult to prove. This is because lawyers need to feel free to practice the law in any way they believe is in the best interests of the client, without constantly rethinking their actions for fear of later retaliation. If someone accuses an attorney of malpractice, he will initially have to establish that the attorney legally represented him. Without establishing a prior attorney-client relationship, most attorney malpractice cases will be dismissed.
Once this is established, the person must prove that an act of negligence has indeed occurred. This can be a serious error in judgement, failure to submit documents by a required date, permission to enter evidence without objection for the benefit of a client, and any other type of action that can be considered negligent. Poor judgment that was considered valid at the time is often ruled out, but major errors that were clearly errors at the time they occurred may constitute malpractice.
If the lawyer’s negligence is established, then it must be demonstrated that he actually has a close relationship with the negative outcome of a lawsuit. For example, someone may demonstrate that a lawyer failed to use a witness that could have significantly changed the outcome of the case. In order to truly prove malpractice legally, however, it must be shown that this failure to use the witness would otherwise have changed the case. If the witness could have easily been discredited or if other evidence would have overridden the testimony, then there is not necessarily proximate cause between the negligence and the outcome.
Once all of this is established, a client suing an attorney for attorney’s malpractice must establish that the actual damage occurred. If someone has lost a case for malpractice, for example, then he has to prove that if he had won the case there would have been a large financial reward. Otherwise, negligence may have occurred, but ultimately it would not have mattered, and damages may not be awarded to a customer in a lawsuit. If enough malpractice cases are brought against a single individual, it is also possible that further punishment such as legal disbarment may occur, although this is usually situational.
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