Legal Malpractice

Legal malpractice is the negligent acts or omissions by an attorney acting on your behalf in providing legal services or legal advice that causes you damages or losses. Depending on your agreement with your attorney, legal malpractice can also involve a breach of contract between your attorney and you.

Only the client of a lawyer can claim legal malpractice against a lawyer. In rare circumstances, such as a client who has died, the estate or executor of that client may make such a claim. However, you cannot claim legal malpractice against the attorney who is representing your opponent, or against an attorney who has not represented you.

In the state of Connecticut, the basic statute of limitations for legal malpractice is three years from the commission of the malpractice.  However, there are circumstances such as ongoing representation or continuing course of conduct, which can lengthen a claim for legal malpractice. If you believe you have a claim for legal malpractice, it is best to reach out to counsel who can assess this sooner rather than later.

Common forms of legal malpractice are:
– Missing a statute of limitations in your case so that your rights are lost
– Failing to give notice of a claim that is timely
– Agreeing to a settlement on behalf of a client that is unauthorized
– Failing to properly pursue a client’s claim or action that results in losing rights to part or all of that claim
– Having a conflict of interest and not understanding clearly who the client is
– Having a case dismissed for reasons that the lawyer could have avoided
– Other acts that are more intentional, such as taking clients’ funds.

Legal malpractice may exist if:
– Your lawyer does not understand your case because they have not properly communicated with you
– They have not tried to understand whether or not you want to settle or try your case
– They have acted adverse to your interests and requests and this has caused a decrease in value of your case.

Legal malpractice may exist if:
– Your lawyer does not understand your case because they have not properly communicated with you
– They have not tried to understand whether or not you want to settle or try your case
– They have acted adverse to your interests and requests and this has caused a decrease in value of your case.

You may have a legal malpractice claim if your lawyer has made a mistake through negligence, omission or even recklessness.  You also need for that mistake to have caused losses or damages to you or your case. If you do not suffer damages or losses as a result of the negligence, omission or recklessness, you do not have a compensable legal malpractice claim.

You must prove that the legal malpractice is beyond the standard of care for attorneys in your area. In other words, you have to show that other attorneys who practice in the same area of law and the same or similar location would not have made the same mistake.

At Stanfield Bechtel Law, we have extensive experience in representing clients in all types of legal malpractice claims. We have successfully negotiated settlements in our years of experience that total millions of dollars. We know how to investigate and pursue the claim, how to represent and protect you and how to get you the compensation you lost as a result of your prior attorney’s potential malpractice.