How Do You Prove Legal Malpractice?
Legal malpractice occurs when your attorney’s actions, or inactions, fall below the standard of care and it causes you harm — but how do you prove legal malpractice and successfully sue your lawyer? Proving legal malpractice is almost always complicated, and having an attorney with experience suing lawyers can make all the difference.
The four elements that your legal malpractice attorney must prove to sue your previous lawyer are:
- Duty of care
- Breach of that duty
- Proximate cause
- Damages
If your attorney can prove these four things, then you have a case against your previous lawyer and have a chance at getting justice.
Ross Sears, co-founder of Sears Crawford and veteran legal malpractice attorney, is here to explain everything you need to know about proving legal malpractice in Texas. Ross has been helping his clients get justice by suing lawyers in Texas for over 30 years. Call Ross today at (713) 223-3333 to get yours.
What is legal malpractice in Texas?
First things first, what is malpractice for an attorney? Attorneys are human beings, and not every mistake a lawyer makes constitutes malpractice, but how do you know when it might be time to sue them?
In Texas, legal malpractice occurs when an attorney acts, or fails to act, in the way that a reasonable and prudent attorney would under the same or similar circumstances and that act or omission causes their client damages.
Legal malpractice does not mean simply losing a case; if an attorney does everything in their power to represent a client according to ethical and legal standards but loses due to factors outside their control, this isn’t legal malpractice. But if they make errors and lose based on circumstances that are in their control, it may be considered legal malpractice.
In essence, your attorney must make a mistake that an attorney should not make, and directly cause harm to your case, and much of your legal malpractice attorney in Texas’ job will be proving that this was the case.
What are the four elements of a legal malpractice cause of action?
So, how do you prove legal malpractice? To successfully sue your lawyer, there are four elements that your attorney must establish:
- There was duty. The first element in proving a legal malpractice claim is demonstrating that your attorney owed you a duty — or that an attorney-client relationship existed. An attorney-client relationship can often be proven through a contract or agreement, and can sometimes be inferred if you were provided legal services or advice.
- That duty was breached. Once the attorney-client relationship has been established, the next step is proving that the attorney breached their duty of care. In Texas, attorneys are required to perform at a standard that is consistent with what other competent attorneys should do under similar circumstances. A breach of duty occurs when an attorney’s actions fall below this standard, whether through negligence, misconduct, or unethical behavior.
- There was a proximate cause. To prove causation, your attorney must demonstrate that your previous attorney’s breach of duty caused you proximate harm. Essentially, you must show that had the attorney acted competently, the result of your case (in all probability) would have been different — this is often referred to as a “case within a case.”
- The client suffered damages. The final element of a legal malpractice claim is proving that you suffered damages due to your previous attorney’s negligence. Your new legal malpractice attorney must show that your last attorney’s breach of duty caused financial or other types of harm, usually through the loss of your case or an otherwise insufficient recovery. Other types of damages include monetary losses from a poor settlement or costs incurred from having to hire another attorney to fix the mistakes.
Which element of malpractice is hardest to prove?
Causation is typically the hardest element to prove in a legal malpractice claim. It’s not enough to show that your attorney made a mistake; you must also demonstrate that this mistake caused a negative outcome in your case. This can be a real challenge because it often involves illustrating what the outcome of your case would have been if not for the mistake, and that can be difficult to do.
For example, in a case involving missed deadlines, you must prove that the case would have been successful if your attorney had filed on time. In many instances, the outcome of previous legal matters will be uncertain even if your attorney had performed flawlessly.
Courts are often reluctant to speculate on a case’s potential outcome, making causation a serious hurdle in legal malpractice cases. This is why it is essential to hire the best attorneys that sue attorneys that you possibly can.
Types of legal malpractice
There are many types of legal malpractice, but some common legal malpractice examples that we see at Sears Crawford include:
- Misrepresentation. Misrepresentation by an attorney occurs when an attorney provides false or misleading information to a client. This can happen either intentionally or negligently and can cause significant harm to the client, including financial losses or missed legal opportunities.
- Fraud. Attorney fraud occurs when an attorney engages in any form of intentional deception or defrauding of a client for personal gain.
- Conflicts of interest. Suing for conflict of interest happens when an attorney’s duty to a client is compromised by a competing interest, whether that be personal gain or the interests of another client.
- Overbilling or misuse of client funds. Sue for overbilling occurs when an attorney misuses, misappropriates, or mishandles client funds. This can happen when an attorney uses settlement funds for personal expenses, overbills for service charges, or bills for services not rendered.
- Failure to calendar or missed deadlines. Missing critical deadlines is one of the most common forms of legal malpractice. Attorneys are responsible for meeting filing deadlines, responding to court orders, and making sure all legal documents are submitted on time — if they don’t, it often has devastating consequences for the case.
There are a number of ways in which attorneys can cause their clients harm by committing malpractice, but to prove any of them, you’ll need a skilled Texas legal malpractice attorney at your side.
How long do you have to sue an attorney for malpractice?
How long do you have to sue an attorney for malpractice? The Texas legal malpractice statute of limitations is generally two years from the date of discovery of the malpractice. While it can be difficult to determine when the clock starts on the statute of limitations, as discovering that your attorney has committed malpractice is not always a one-time revelation, what you can be sure of is that you need to move quickly.
Seek justice with a legal malpractice attorney in Houston from Sears Crawford
So, how do you prove legal malpractice? Proving the four elements of malpractice, particularly proximate cause, requires an in-depth understanding of the law and a strategic and time-tested approach. If you believe that you or a loved one have been a victim of a previous lawyer’s negligence, or Legal Malpractice, you need to speak with an experienced malpractice attorney before it’s too late.
We know that hiring another lawyer is likely the last thing you want to do, but Ross Sears has been handling tough legal malpractice cases in Texas for decades, helping people just like you get justice and hold their previous attorneys accountable.
If you’re ready to take action and hold negligent attorneys accountable for their actions, contact Sears Crawford today at (713) 223-3333 or contact us online to schedule a consultation.
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