People often ask Ross Sears II, why he became a legal malpractice Attorney in Houston. Many people assume that he must not have many friends among his colleagues given his willingness to sue his peers. Here’s the answer:
I didn’t become a legal malpractice Attorney to make friends; I became a Legal Malpractice Attorney to help people. My duty is to my clients, not my colleagues.
Not all lawyers are bad. Unfortunately, there are also lawyers that do criminal, shady, crooked things in order to line their own pockets. Whether your lawyer simply made a mistake, or acted intentionally, we have no problem suing lawyers on behalf of our clients in order to get them the justice they deserve, and to “right the wrong” that was committed against them.
To be perfectly candid, there are many lawyers out there who give the good lawyers a bad name. Many of those “bad attorneys” do not deserve to be practicing law in the State of Texas. When I get calls from clients who tell me stories about their attorney stealing money from them, or cheating them in a business deal, it makes my blood boil. I will do whatever is necessary to help our clients fix these problems and hold these bad lawyers accountable.
As Lawyers that sue lawyers for malpractice we will gather the necessary evidence, research the applicable rules and laws, and present the evidence and documentation in a clear and concise way to help our client’s get the money they deserve.
Over the decades that we have been practicing law in this great state, we have helped hundreds of clients in cases involving everything from missed deadlines, overbilling and unconscionable contingency fees, failure to disclose conflicts of interest, general negligence, insufficient settlements, and more.
Or, to put it another way, what does a legal malpractice lawyer do? When our legal malpractice attorneys in Houston say that we sue lawyers, we are saying that we help bring legal claims against other lawyers.
As mentioned previously, in order to sue your lawyer, you must first be able to prove that your lawyer is guilty of one of several types of malpractice, including but not limited to negligence, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, or failed to comply with the applicable rules/laws during their representation of their clients.
In order to prove that a lawyer has been negligent, breached a contract, or violated the rules of professional conduct, we, as your legal malpractice attorney in Houston must prove the following on your behalf:
1. There is duty
Lawyers by definition owe a fiduciary to you, the client. This duty is often called the “duty of care.” This is usually easy to prove because there is typically a contract between the parties, or a course of action by the lawyer on the client’s behalf. The contract between the attorney and client can be oral or written, depending on the circumstances.
2. That duty was breached
The lawyer acted or failed to act, in a way that harmed the client and in a way that a reasonable and prudent attorney under the same circumstances would not have acted.
3. That when the duty was breached, harm resulted
In legal malpractice cases, the harm is typically proven by showing that the outcome of the client’s case would have been better for the client if the attorney had done what he or she was required to do under the standard of care for attorneys in the same or similar situation. One simple example is, if you were involved in an auto accident and suffered injuries as a result of the fault of another driver, you are entitled to recover reasonable compensation for your injuries. If you hire an attorney and that attorney fails to file suit within the time limits set by law, then you may lose your ability to recover the monetary damages you deserve, because your attorney failed to timely file suit. You would then potentially have a good legal malpractice case against the attorney who missed the deadline. This is just one of the many examples of lawsuits we have handled on behalf of our clients over the past 30 years.
There is a wide variety of types of legal malpractice cases. The following are the most common types of cases a legal malpractice attorney in Houston sees on a typical basis.
Breach of contract
When you enter into an attorney-client relationship with your lawyer, you typically sign a contract. When the lawyer fails to comply with the terms of that contract, a breach of contract occurs and you may be entitled to damages.
Breach of fiduciary duty
Attorneys owe their clients what is called a “fiduciary duty.” This duty is the highest duty imposed by law, and means that your attorney must put your interest ahead of their own. Breach of fiduciary duty usually requires us to prove that the Lawyer acted in a way that benefitted the attorney to the detriment of the client. It usually requires evidence of conduct by the attorney that goes beyond negligence or mere mistake.
Conflict of interest
If your lawyer represents another party’s interest that is opposite of your interest (the client), this can create a conflict of interest that must be disclosed to the client and may result in the removal of the attorney from the case. Additionally, if the lawyer enters into a business transaction with the client, this can be a huge conflict of interest for the attorney and the laws require certain disclosures to avoid problems for the attorney. Conflicts of interest are frequent problems for attorneys and are a common source of clients for us at Sears Crawford.
Negligence
Most of the cases we handle involve Negligence by the attorney in handling the client’s case. Negligence is generally defined as “doing” something that a reasonable and prudent attorney would not have done under the same or similar circumstances OR “failing to do” something that a reasonable and prudent attorney would have done under the same or similar circumstances. A common example would be failing to file suit within the applicable statute of limitations. Missing an important deadline in a legal case can make the difference between your getting money for your injuries and losing the opportunity to seek any damages for your losses.
If you believe your attorney has committed malpractice and should be sued for their actions or inactions, please contact your Sears Crawford legal malpractice attorney in Houston today.
We at Sears Crawford have served as legal malpractice lawyers in Houston for over a collective 50 years. Let us help you fix the problems that were caused by your previous lawyer.
In helping you, not only do we get to right the wrongs created by some lawyers, but we also get to do our part to help try to restore the integrity of the legal profession by holding lawyers accountable for their actions.
Of course, every case is different, and there are numerous details involved which can complicate things quickly. Keep in mind that deadlines apply to your case and if you do not pursue your claims in a timely manner, you may be forever barred from asserting your claims.
If your lawyer has done anything to harm you or your case, we are here to help. Give our legal malpractice attorneys in Houston a call at 713-223-3333 or contact us online to set up your free consultation today.
