Legal Malpractice: Have You Been Harmed by a Legal Professional’s Negligence? Our Salt Lake City Legal Malpractice Attorneys Can Help

In times of need, we turn to highly skilled professionals to help us handle problems we are not equipped to fix on our own. When you require legal help, you trust the lawyers you depend upon will help, rather than hurt you.

What happens, though, when a severe error is made during the course of your case? While mistakes happen among even the most skilled professionals, there is a significant difference between an minor mistake and a mistake resulting from negligence or recklessness. If you have suffered as a result of negligence or recklessness by a legal professional, you may have a legal malpractice case.

Legal Malpractice: When Your Advocate Becomes Your Adversary

Cases may not always end in your favor, no matter how much of a legal virtuoso your attorney may be. Occasionally, however, a breach of duty occurs, and your case ends poorly. In this case, you may have a legal malpractice case.

There are three primary forms of legal malpractice: negligence, breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary duty.

• Negligence: The most common legal malpractice claim of negligence occur when your attorney fails to practice law or act under the duty of care and skill that a competent attorney would use in the same circumstance. This may include issues such as insufficient preparation for a case or missing critical deadlines. In order to prove your attorney was negligent, you will need to prove the duties of your attorney, that he or she breached those duties, and that you were harmed as a result.
• Breach of Contract: Malpractice based on a breach of contract may occur when an attorney violates or fails to complete the terms of his or her contract with a client.
• Breach of Fiduciary Duty: A breach of fiduciary duty occurs when your attorney has a conflict of interest that harms your case or in some other manner establishes the duty of good faith and fair dealing owed to you. This covers a wide variety of conflicts and indiscretions, but can include lying to you about settlement offers or other important case information, inappropriate use of funds, or representing a client with conflicting interests that conflict with yours.

To have a solid legal malpractice case, you will need to prove you would have won your case or enjoyed some other benefit had your attorney not been negligent. A Salt Lake City legal malpractice lawyer can help you ensure you receive a fair compensation regardless of your previous attorney’s mistakes.

Seek Experienced Counsel for Your Legal Malpractice Claims

Malpractice claims can be extraordinarily challenging cases, but our legal malpractice attorneys remain focused on achieving justice and compensation for the harm caused by your previous lawyer. At Winder & Counsel, our Salt Lake City legal malpractice attorneys will put their experience, care, and skill diligently to work for you. For more information about your claim, call our office today at 801-322-2222.