Ventura County Legal Malpractice Attorneys

If the attorney made major errors in your case, you can look into suing that lawyer for legal malpractice. It isn’t always easy to win these cases though. This often means that the lawyer didn’t use the proper care and skill that other lawyers would use when handling similar cases. It isn’t considered malpractice just because the lawyer didn’t win your case for you.

To win your legal malpractice case, you need to prove these things:

• Duty – the attorney owes you a duty to perform their job properly.
• Breach – the attorney breached their duty, i.e. negligence, mistake or failure to do what they agreed to do.
• Causation – the attorney’s conduct ended up hurting you financially.
• Damages – the attorney caused you to suffer a financial loss.

Knowing when a bad job is actually legal malpractice

To help you identify when the lawyer’s actions are malpractice, consider the following:
The lawyer stopped working on your case. If the lawyer ignores your case and your concerns, there is a good chance that it is going to end up turning into malpractice.

The case is thrown out because your lawyer didn’t do their job properly. You have to prove that the lawyer didn’t handle the case properly, as well as that you would have won a judgment had the lawyer done their job properly.
The lawyer recommended a settlement for less than what your case was worth. This isn’t malpractice. Lawyers will often give you an inflated value of what they feel your case is worth to get you to hire them. Get a second opinion. If another lawyer thinks that you are settling for less than you should, consider going with another lawyer.
The lawyer settles your case prior to obtaining your authorization to do so. Lawyers aren’t allowed to take a settlement without first obtaining your approval. To prove malpractice, you have to show that the settlement the lawyer agreed to is less than what your actual case was worth.

The lawyer is socializing with the opponent’s lawyer. While conversing isn’t malpractice, it is against their agreement with you to talk about the case and disclose information you told them in confidence.
The lawyer misused your retainer. If your money was used for something other than your case, that is legal malpractice.
If you feel that the attorney didn’t do their job properly, you can talk to the team of professionals at Malcolm Tator Law in Ventura County. You deserve the chance to have someone represent you who has your best interest at heart. Contact our California attorneys today.

Legal Malpractice Attorneys serving Oxnard, Ventura County, Camarillo, Carpinteria, Fillmore, Moorpark, Newbury Park, Ojai, Port Hueneme, Santa Paula, Somis, Thousand Oaks, Ventura, and Westlake Village areas.