Pennsylvania Legal Malpractice Legal Questions

This is a link to the website of the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.  There you will find a fill-in form for filing a formal complaint against your lawyer.  http://www.padisciplinaryboard.org/consumers/complaint-forms/ Your problem with having lost your case is different than reporting the lawyer to the Disciplinary Board.  You must consult another lawyer immediately about having lost your divorce case.  You may have grounds to have the adverse decision set aside by the court and start over with the divorce, but the time-window you have to successfully do that is short, so the sooner you get another lawyer involved the better.  Time is critical with a problem like this. WARNING:  I am not your lawyer and providing you with the generic information, definition, clarification or explanation you seek about a legal matter on this anonymous forum does not make me your lawyer.  By answering your question I am only trying to provide you with general information that will deepen your understanding of the legal concept that appears to be an issue for you, that will hopefully guide you in selecting and communicating with a lawyer of your choosing.  The reason for all this is that legal problems are intensely fact-driven, and it is impossible to give anyone correct legal advice without comprehensive inquiry by the lawyer into the specific facts of the situation that concerns you, and the law of the jurisdiction in which you reside, and that is impossible to accomplish through this website.  Even though I am not your lawyer, if I should later become your lawyer no representation is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.              ... Read More

The statute of limitations in most case is  2 years.  In cases where there was a breach of a promise to achieve a certain result, there may be an argument that it is 4 years based upon a breach of contract between the client and attorney.  I would also assume that the 2 year statute of limitations applies and file the lawsuit within that time frame.  In Pa., you also will be required to have an expert who will confirm that there is evidence of malpractice and that the malpractice has caused damages.... Read More

If you are unhappy with your attorney, you are free to fire him/her and retain a new attorney.  If you decide to take this action, I suggest that you meet with a new attorney, and if you're comfortable with that attorney, ask that he/she contact your current attorney to notify him/her of the change and to obtain your file.... Read More

The claims of the estate are handled by the person who has been appointed as the adminstrator or executor.  It sounds as though your brother has been named the administrator/executor.  You may be an heir of the estate, depending on whether there was a will and you were identified as an heir, so you have an interest in the estate-but the lawyer works for your brother.  You should consult with an attorney to assist in obtaining a status report.... Read More

You should consult an attorney who specializes in medical malpractice immediately.  This is not an easy answer because under some circumstances there may be a viable case.  but also, there may not be if this is a complication of the surgery which is something on informed consent.  there are also applicable statutes of limitations in which to act.  Thus, my recommendation is if you want to look into this that you contact an attorney immediately. Scott B. Cooper scooper@schmidtkramer.com 717-232-6300... Read More