If My Lawyer Performed Poorly, Can I Sue?
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When many people hire an attorney to represent them in court and they come away losing their case, their first thought is to blame their attorney for something that was or was not done along the way. However, while losing a case does not automatically mean the attorney performed poorly, there are instances where an attorney’s performance may have been negligent in some manner. When this happens, you as the client may have the option of suing for legal malpractice. If you believe your attorney in the Lone Star State did not fulfill their professional obligation to you, here are the Texas requirements for legal malpractice and why you should discuss your concerns with a legal malpractice attorney from the Kassab Law Firm.
Duty to the Plaintiff
The first element of Texas legal malpractice centers on the attorney’s duty to you as the plaintiff. This element concerns primarily the attorney-client relationship, meaning your attorney had a duty to handle your case in the best possible manner in an attempt to let you emerge victorious. Should it be found that your attorney failed to do so or may in fact have been actively working to derail your case, this would constitute legal malpractice which Texas may recognize. Thus, you should turn to a malpractice attorney for guidance.
Breaching the Standard of Care
If your attorney loses your case, this does not instantly mean they breached the standard of care owed to you. Since no reputable lawyer can ever guarantee how a client’s case will end, this will not automatically allow you to sue for legal malpractice. However, should your lawyer fail to act in a reasonable manner as other lawyers would have done under similar circumstances, you may have grounds for legal malpractice. To find out, discuss your situation with malpractice lawyers Houston residents know will always give honest and forthright opinions on this complex matter.
Proximate Cause
In this third element of legal malpractice, you must be able to prove your attorney’s actions or lack thereof were the proximate cause of any damages you sustained. In other words, you and your legal malpractice lawyers must show that if your previous attorney had acted in a proper and reasonable manner, no damages to you would have taken place.
The Sustaining of Damages
Last but certainly not least, you must also be able to show that you did in fact sustain verifiable damages as a result of your attorney acting in an improper manner. For example, if you and your experienced legal malpractice attorneys can show you would have won your case if certain evidence had been presented by your lawyer or that your lawyer acted properly, this will fulfill this element of legal malpractice.
Filing a Grievance
In some situations, a client who believes their attorney committed legal malpractice may have this belief based on their attorney violating ethics rules. However, this may not necessarily constitute the legal definition of malpractice. If the ethics violation failed to result in financial damages to you the client, you will likely not be able to sue for legal malpractice. Instead, you would file a grievance against your attorney.
Since you will be pursuing a case for which you probably know little about, don’t think you can simply hire the first attorney you find to handle a case of potential legal malpractice. Instead, discuss your concerns in greater detail with a legal malpractice attorney who handles such cases on a regular basis. To do so, pick up your phone today and immediately schedule a meeting with legal malpractice lawyers, Houston TX residents always turn to at the Kassab Law Firm.