You can sue your lawyer when you believe they have committed legal malpractice and - generally - you can prove the following key elements:

An attorney-client relationship existed. You hired the lawyer and thereby created a duty of care.

Negligence or misconduct occurred. Your lawyer failed to act in a reasonably competent and professional manner. Examples of negligence or misconduct include: missing deadlines or statutes of limitations, mishandling client funds, giving incorrect or bad legal advice, failing to disclose conflicts of interest, not preparing adequately for a case, etc.

That negligence or misconduct caused you harm. Your lawyer's actions (or inaction) or misconduct caused you harm. For instance, perhaps your lawyer's error resulted in your cause being dismissed and your otherwise would have prevailed.

Damages. You must show that the lawyer's negligence or misconduct caused you to suffer damages, such as losing money that could have been secured via a settlement or judgment, incurring unnecessary legal costs, a lost business opportunity, etc.

For the most part, clients do not know whether legal malpractice has occurred and only have a gut feeling that something has gone wrong with the matter with which they trusted their lawyer. When that occurs, the aggrieved client should seek to consult with and hire a malpractice lawyer - like Nicholas Pierce - to handle his or her matter. Legal malpractice cases are complex cases and need an experienced legal malpractice lawyer.

If you have been the victim of legal malpractice, it is important that you immediately CONTACT US at The Pierce Law Firm for a free consultation. Attorney Nicholas Pierce reviews every submitted form and responds within 48 hours.