Unfortunately, frustration with your lawyer about how your case is proceeding does not mean they have committed legal malpractice or engaged in ethical misconduct. We will discuss the differences between legal malpractice and ethical misconduct another day…soon. But there are 10 Questions you can ask yourself about your legal representation if things just don’t seem right.
- Did your attorney wait too long to settle your case or to file a lawsuit (Statute of Limitations)?
- After accepting your case, did your attorney do little or nothing to achieve your objectives?
- Has your attorney engaged in fraudulent billing or charging practices and/or refused to account for all the money received or spent in your case?
- Has your attorney engaged in sexual misconduct (toward you) while representing you?
- Has your attorney been involved in a conflict of interest regarding your case?
- Have you or a loved one been sent to prison because your attorney failed to mount a defense?
- Have there been unreasonable delays in handling your case?
- Has your attorney failed to communicate with you about the status of your case?
- Have you been pressured to accept or agree to a settlement that is not in your best interest?
- Did you lose custody of your child because your attorney failed to properly present your case to the court?
A “Yes” answer to any of these questions may indicate you have a problem. Some of them may rise to the level of a lawsuit against your lawyer, others may not, and still others may just mean that your lawyer is a sloppy business person but not dishonest or unethical. These 10 Questions are really the tip of the iceberg, but they will get you thinking. Probably the best thing you can do to avoid being in a situation that has a nasty result included in the list above is to pick the right lawyer in the first place. We’ll talk about that tomorrow.
