Legal malpractice cases may also involve neglect of the file by the attorney, failure by the attorney to abide by court orders and discovery requirements, failure to conduct adequate discovery, or improper conduct such as sexual advances by the attorney. If your attorney drastically reduces the valuation of your case without a clear reason, there may be cause for being suspicious of the attorney’s motives. Many cases where the attorney has “overlooked” a critical detail are settled quickly before the client is allowed to learn of the attorney’s negligence. If you feel you may have a legal malpractice claim against your present attorney, you may wish to pursue a claim even before the underlying litigation, the case the negligent attorney is or was handling, is concluded.

If your lawyer is negligent in his or her representation of you as a client, has breached a fiduciary duty, or breached a contract, then you may have a legal malpractice claim against the lawyer.

To pursue a legal malpractice claim, a client must show that the attorney’s acts were not merely the result of poor strategy or judgment, but that the professional work was substandard to that which would be provided by a reasonable attorney.