Frequently Asked Questions

Legal malpractice claims are in some ways similar to typical tort claims, and in other ways, somewhat different. On the following pages, we endeavor to answer the kinds of questions we often hear from clients and prospective clients.  Please click on the subject areas that interest you:

Professional Malpractice FAQs

1. What do you mean by “professional”?
2. What is professional malpractice?
3. Against which professions is a claim considered one for professional negligence?
4. How do malpractice claims against professionals differ from ordinary negligence claims, such as a claim arising out of an automobile collision?
5. Why is the law different for professionals?
6. Is it as hard to find an expert as it seems like it might be?

Legal Malpractice FAQs

1. What is legal malpractice?
2. I know someone who was wrongfully convicted of a crime, and I think his lawyer did many things wrong during the trial.  Is that malpractice?
3. My last lawyer committed malpractice, and now I am supposed to trust another lawyer?  Isn't that asking a lot?
4. If I win the malpractice case, what can I recover?
5. I want my former lawyer to be punished for how badly he or she handled my matter.  How can I do this?

Suing Your Lawyer FAQs

1. I think my lawyer did a really bad job handling my case.  Do I have a claim?
2. But I had a great case and my lawyer lost!  There has to have been something negligent, right?
3. How can I find a lawyer willing to sue another lawyer?
4. How is suing a lawyer different from other types of lawsuits?
5. Does it matter whether my lawyer was with a big firm, a small firm, or was on her own?
6. Are lawyers in Georgia permitted to practice without liability/malpractice insurance?

Elements of Legal Malpractice FAQs

1. What do you mean by “elements”?
2. What do you mean by “preponderance of the evidence”?
3. What are the elements of a claim of legal malpractice?
4. If I hired the lawyer to represent me, is that enough to satisfy the
   duty element?
5. How can I prove that my lawyer was negligent?
6. How do I prove that my lawyer’s negligence caused me to suffer financial harm?

Duty & Breach FAQs

1. What duties does my lawyer owe to me as the client?
2. What does “standard of care” mean?
3. But what does that MEAN?
4. What if the lawyer does not meet the standard of care?
5. What does “attorney-client relationship” mean?
6. Can I sue a lawyer if he or she was not my lawyer, but the work was done for my benefit?
7. The lawyer on the other side of my case has said and done things I consider improper.  Can I sue him for malpractice?

Causation & Damages FAQs

1. What is causation?
2. My lawyer failed to file my lawsuit on time, and the statute of limitations expired. Now I have no claim.  My lawyer caused me to lose the claim, right?
3. So if my lawyer’s malpractice occurred while she was representing me in a lawsuit, now I have to prove two cases in one?
4. What are damages?
5. Are damages limited to any specific amount?
6. How do you prove what would have been collected in the underlying case?

Fee Disputes & Fee Arbitration FAQs

1. How much can I expect to pay a lawyer?
2. What are costs and expenses, and how are they different from fees?
3. I think my lawyer charged me too much.  What can I do about it?
4. My case is over, and I still owe my lawyer a lot of money.  I think he did not handle my case as well as he ought to have, and I don’t want to pay.  What can I do?
5. What is fee arbitration?

Attorney Ethics & Violations FAQs

1. What do you mean by the term “attorney ethics”?
2. What are the Rules of Professional Conduct?
3. I am having problems with my lawyer.  What can I do?
4. I believe my lawyer behaved unethically while representing me.  What can I do?
5. What happens if the Bar decides that a lawyer violated the Rules of Professional Conduct?
6. How is the Bar’s disciplinary process related to a claim for legal malpractice?

Alternative Dispute Resolution & Mediation

1. What is alternative dispute resolution (ADR)?
2. Are there different types of ADR?
3. What is mediation?
4. When do parties go to mediation, and why do they choose to do so?
5. What does the mediator do?
6. The mediator’s job does not sound hard.  Can anyone do it?
7. How does a party go to mediation?
8. What is arbitration?
9. What is a summary jury trial?

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