Legal Malpractice Lawyers

Legal Malpractice Attorneys in New Jersey

When you hire an attorney or law firm, you expect them to act professionally and to protect your rights and act in your best interests. An ineffective legal strategy is not cause for a malpractice claim.

Legal malpractice is a form of negligence that occurs when lawyers and their law firms act negligently, causing damage to the client. Legal malpractice claims may also be brought against an attorney by a client for breach of fiduciary duty. The client typically brings these cases, although it is possible under certain circumstances for non-clients to file claims if an attorney has acted improperly. The following are breaches that could be a sign of legal malpractice:

Improper delays.
Failing to file documents.
Missing deadlines or the statute of limitations.
Settling without authorization.
Failure to hire appropriate experts or to conduct discovery.
Misuse of funds.
Conflict of interest

Proving Legal Malpractice Claims & Settlements

All legal malpractice, rely on four elements of proof:

The client must show that the attorney had a professional duty.
The plaintiff must illustrate that the duty was breached.
This breach must be the direct cause of the harm.
The alleged negligence must cause actual or financial losses.

The most difficult part of a legal malpractice case is proving that the outcome would have been different if the case were handled correctly. This is called proving the “case within a case.” Damages would likely be calculated by determining what the damages would have been if the previous lawyer had not committed legal malpractice. At Mazie Slater, our attorney malpractice lawyers concentrate on righting wrongs and holding members of our profession accountable when they breach their duty to their clients.

Among other successes, our legal malpractice attorneys in New Jersey have achieved include a $6 million legal malpractice settlement, a $4.8 million legal malpractice settlement, a $2.5 million legal malpractice jury verdict, a $1.7 million legal malpractice/accounting malpractice settlement and a $1.4 million legal malpractice settlement. Our legal malpractice lawsuits have been on behalf of individuals, corporations, and public entities, and we have won these cases against some of the most prestigious firms in New Jersey and New York. Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.