New York Legal Malpractice Legal Questions

You cannot claim malpractice against an attorney that is not your attorney.  Your attorney should have given you any paper relevant to your case.  As the letter was not directly in the divorce case, it is a grey line on whether your attorney should have given you correspondence from another lawyer to her.  But, it is not malpractice as there are no damages that resulted.... Read More

In order to prove legal malpractice, you have to prove "a trial within a trial".  In other words, you have to prove first, that your attorney did not live up to the standard of competence to be reasonably expected from an attorney with his training and experience, and second, had your attorney done everything correctly, it is more likely than not that you would have won your dental malpractice case. In order to prove dental malpractice, you must bring in the same type of dentist as your expert witness, who can testify within a reasonable degree of dental certainty, the dentist made a mistake, that mistake caused you damage, and but for the dentist's mistake, you would not have suffered the damages.  If you can prove the dental procedure caused trigeminal neuralgia, that's a very serious condition, and the case could have value. An attorney who practices in both legal and dental malpractice should review your file immediately. ... Read More

If your attorney negligently drafted a contract less than three years ago that caused you financial losses, you can sue for legal malpractice if you can prove that these losses would not have occurred but for the language in the contract. If on the other hand you feel you sold too low, that is not legal malpractice, regardless of the fact that your lawyer drafted the contract. ... Read More

Your attorney cannot simply "drop your case", if it is in litigation, without your consent- I believe what you're saying is that he dropped YOU as a client. That usually requires the consent of the court. What you've described could be legal malpractice if his actions or inaction ruined what would have otherwise been a great case.  I am curious about the result of the grievance proceeding- if the lawyer has his license suspended or receives a serious sanction or censure, that is a strong indicator of malpractice. Conversely, if the grievance committee determines he did nothing wrong, you likely have no malpractice case. I'm also not sure how your lawyer could drop both of your cases if he settled one, as you indicate. Finally, it is a given that people who file grievances against their attorneys in the middle of their cases have already decided to retain a new lawyer. How could you expect a lawyer against whom you are filing grievances to continue to properly represent you, and why would you want him to?  ... Read More

If I had a dime for every time a court clerk asked me for a revision that was NEVER requested in any of my other cases.... It's foolish to argue with a court clerk, unless they mistakenly ask for something that's invasive for your client and not required under the statute. That's happened to me exactly once in over twenty years of practice. And yes, you CAN force your lawyer to do their job. Sometimes a nice polite letter from another lawyer (I guess your wrongful-death attorney hasn't had any luck) is all it takes.  Then there's always the option of a complaint to the attorney disciplinary committee. Getting preliminary letters when there's a wrongful death suit to be filed (I hope the statute of limitations,  which is two years from the time of death, hasn't run) is one of the few things in Surrogate's Court that should always be fast, unless someone in the family objects to the person being appointed. If that's not the case, there's no excuse for the delay. I've never had a problem getting letters fast, in any court, when the clerk knows there's a property to be sold or a wrongful death case to be filed. If all else fails, get another estate lawyer to step in- and ask the first one for a refund of the legal fees paid. ... Read More

There is nothing inherently wrong with a lawyer representing a family member.  However, the actions of your sister and father will be judged like anyone else.  Forging documents and getting incompetent people to sign documents is obviously wrong, and if you have proof, you can challenge them.... Read More

Unfortunately, dental malpractice is not a big money maker, so many attorneys will not do it.  Get everything fixed by someone else.  You can sue for any additional cost to you.  If there is any permanent damage, like nerve damage, etc., then you have something beyond a small claims matter.... Read More