LEGAL MALPRACTICE
Legal malpractice is the negligence of an
attorney in his/her
professional capacity as an attorney. Negligence is the
failure of
an attorney to exercise reasonable care. Reasonable care means that degree of skill commonly used by an ordinary member of the legal profession.
In order to win a legal malpractice case the plaintiff must prove
the following:
1. The attorney was negligent.
2. The negligence of the attorney was the
proximate cause of loss to the plaintiff.
3. The plaintiff suffered actual damages,
(the underlying case would have been won).
In order to prevail in a suit for legal malpractice, it must be proven that the plaintiff would have won the underlying case which it is claimed the defendant attorney negligently handled. Thus in a
legal malpractice case, not only must the legal malpractice be proven, it is also the plaintiff’s burden to prove that the underlying case would have been won but for the
attorney’s malpractice.
