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Atlanta Legal Malpractice Attorney

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When you hire an attorney, you rightfully expect your attorney to treat your case with the utmost care. Lawyers, like doctors and other professionals, are governed by rules of ethical conduct. These ethical guidelines are designed to protect clients from unscrupulous lawyers. If your lawyer violates these ethical rules, they might lose their license. They might also expose themselves to a legal malpractice lawsuit if their misdeeds harmed you or your case.

Malpractice does not automatically occur because a lawyer loses your case at trial or settles your case for less than what you think it’s worth. Lawsuits go to trial every day because the injured victim and the insurance company can’t agree upon who was at fault or how much the case is worth. If reasonable minds can disagree about these issues, the jury might also have difficulty resolving them. That means that the jury might give you a favorable verdict, or they might give you a defense verdict. However, it’s also possible that you lost your case because your lawyer made a harmful error such as failing to sue a truck driver’s employer even though the truck driver was on the job at the time of the collision. In that situation, it’s possible that your lawyer committed legal malpractice. If you believe your lawyer carelessly handled your case, or acted unethically, contact a legal malpractice attorney in Atlanta right away.

At Allen & Scofield Injury Lawyers, LLC, our Atlanta personal injury attorneys are passionate about individuals receiving strong legal representation. After being hurt in an accident or losing a loved one, you deserve to have a skilled attorney fight hard for you against insurers and in court. Unfortunately, some lawyers do not have your best interests in mind while they represent you.

Call us today at (404) 419-6674 or contact us through our online form to schedule a free, no-risk consultation.

Common Types of Legal Malpractice

There are many ways in which an attorney can violate their duty of care to you. Our legal team at Allen & Scofield Injury Lawyers, LLC have seen it all. We have helped many individuals and their families who were harmed by the attorney that assisted them with their personal injury, medical malpractice or wrongful death case. To learn more about our experience and legal malpractice claims, call us today.

Some examples of legal malpractice include:

Failure to Know or Appropriately Apply the Law
A Planning or Strategy Error
Conducting an Inadequate Investigation
Inadequate Participation in Discovery
Failure to File Documents, With or Without a Deadline
Failure to Calendar Deadlines
Failure to Know or Ascertain a Deadline
Procrastination or Undue Delay
Failure to Obtain Client Consent
Improper Withdrawal From a Client’s Case
A Conflict of Interest
Libel or Slander of a Client
Discrimination, Harassment, or Other Civil Rights Violations
A Mathematical Error
A Public Search Error
Poor or Lack of Communication With Client
Lost Document, Evidence, or Client File
Improperly Delegated Work
Fraud
Mismanagement of Client Funds

To assert a successful legal malpractice claim, it is not enough for your lawyer to simply have made a mistake during your case. In fact, you must be able to show that your lawyer’s mistake caused you harm or lost you money. In many situations, legal malpractice claims arise because the lawyer’s negligent conduct caused their client to lose their case. If you lost your personal injury case, you would not have received the compensation that you deserved, including medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

If your attorney made a mistake, but you still won your case, you might still have a strong legal malpractice claim. For example, you may have won your personal injury case. Yet, because your attorney failed to tender your medical bills into evidence, you received a much smaller award than you should have received.

If you are unsure of whether you may have a claim against your previous counsel, contact a legal malpractice lawyer right away.

Learn More About Allen & Scofield Injury Lawyers, LLC

About the Firm

How to File a Legal Malpractice Claim

If you want to file a legal malpractice case, you should first consult with a veteran legal malpractice attorney. Your attorney will give you an objective opinion regarding the strength of your case. If you have a valid claim, your lawyer will conduct a thorough investigation, gather evidence on your behalf, and explain how they will seek to secure you compensation.

The next step is to prepare the legal malpractice complaint, which must be properly filed in a court that has jurisdiction over the matter. If you hired the negligent attorney in the same county where you live, then you should file your lawsuit in that county. The complaint states who you are, who the defendant is – in this case, the allegedly negligent lawyer – and the basis for your claim of malpractice. The complaint will describe what your previous lawyer did wrong and identify the compensation you wish to obtain. A legal malpractice attorney will ensure your complaint is clear and accurate, properly filed, and properly served upon the defendant, along with a supporting affidavit from an attorney that is prepared to testify that your former attorney committed malpractice.

If you hire our firm to file and serve your complaint, we will represent you throughout the life of your case. We will take full advantage of the discovery process to obtain evidence that supports your case. During that time, we may be able to negotiate a legal malpractice settlement for you with the negligent attorney’s malpractice insurer carrier. If not, we are prepared to fight for your compensation at trial.

Elements of Legal Malpractice Cases

If you wish to pursue compensation from your prior negligent lawyer, then you need to understand the elements you must prove in court:

You and the defendant had an attorney-client relationship.
The defendant failed to exercise ordinary care, skill, and diligence in your case.
The defendant’s action, or lack of action, is responsible for your injury, such as losing your case.
If the defendant had obtained a successful outcome, you would have collected a monetary award.

You must be able to prove that your attorney not only did something wrong, but that you also were harmed or lost your opportunity to recover compensation because of their errors. In most circumstances, that means the attorney lost the case. However, it could also mean that you obtained a settlement, yet it was significantly lower than it should have been. To learn more about pursuing a legal malpractice lawsuit, contact Allen, Bills & Scofield, Injury Lawyers today.

Legal Malpractice Damages

The damages you might receive from a legal malpractice claim depend upon the facts of your legal malpractice case and the facts of your prior case that your former attorney mishandled. If your previous lawyer lost your case, and a jury determines they were negligent, then you will typically receive damages that are comparable to what you would have obtained if you won your prior case. If your previous loss caused you to have to pay someone else, then you might be able to seek reimbursement for the money you paid the other party. You might also ask for your court expenses and legal fees that you paid the negligent lawyer and those you incurred hiring a new attorney to represent you in this matter.

Additionally, if there is evidence that your previous lawyer’s actions were grossly negligent or egregious, you might be able to recover punitive damages. Punitive damages are designed to punish the wrongdoer.

★★★★★

"Charles is an excellent trial attorney who possesses a unique talent to hone in on the significant issues and turn the Defendant’s strengths against them. Charles is as honest as the day is long and works tirelessly to ensure that his clients receive all that is possible. While no lawyer is perfect, Charles strives to be as good a lawyer as there is on this planet, and he succeeds!" MICHAEL D. DENTON, JR

Legal Malpractice Statute of Limitations

The window of time that you have to file a legal malpractice case in Georgia depends upon the type of loss you suffered. If you claim that your previous attorney breached your representation contract, then you may have four or six years to file your lawsuit. However, if you are alleging professional negligence based upon tort law, then your statute of limitations may only be two or four years.

You should speak with an experienced and highly-skilled legal malpractice lawyer as soon as you think you may have a claim because there are so many different statutes of limitation in Georgia.

Contact Allen & Scofield Injury Lawyers, LLC Today

If you lost your case or obtained only a minimal settlement after a personal injury or wrongful death claim, and you believe it is because of your previous attorney’s misconduct, contact us at Allen & Scofield Injury Lawyers, LLC. We have decades of experience handling legal malpractice claims. We are here to listen to your story, thoroughly investigate what happened, and advise you regarding whether you have a valid legal malpractice case.

Perhaps, your attorney won your case, yet mismanaged or appropriated your settlement funds. If you did not receive any or all of the money you should have after your case, call us immediately at (404) 419-6674. You can also contact us through our online form, and we will get back to you as soon as possible to schedule a free consultation.

We represent individuals who have been wronged by their lawyers in Atlanta, Fulton County, DeKalb County, Clayton County, Gwinnett County, Cobb County, and throughout Georgia.