Generally,
legal malpractice consists of two parts: 1) the damages the
client has suffered and 2) the wrongs the lawyer has committed.
In order to obtain financial compensation, the client must
prove both parts of his/her claim (damages and wrongs). In
addition, he must show that the lawyer's mistakes caused the
client's damages.
1)
Damages: The client's damages must be measurable
and the client must have suffered some defined economic
damage to have a claim against his/her lawyer. Commonly,
the damages a client incurs are a result of an underlying
case or transaction that has been impaired or devastated
by his/her lawyer's mistakes.
2)
The lawyer's mistakes: The client must be able to
prove that the financial damages were caused by the lawyer's
malfeasance. In addition to proving that these wrongs were
the cause of the client's damages, and before he/she is
able to get financial compensation, he/she must also show
one or more of a broad range of wrongs such as:
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Negligence:
Experts are generally called in to explain to the jury
the professed "standard of care" or level of
acceptable practice and whether the mistake that hurt
the client was a deviation from that norm. |
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Negligent misrepresentation: When a lawyer says
something untrue by mistake as opposed to saying it deliberately
and the client has relied on that untruth in a way that
harmed the client. |
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Breach
of contract: Even if there is no written contract,
when a client hires a lawyer to represent him, a contract
is immediately formed between the two. As a rule, the
contract determines payment for a certain scope of work.
If a lawyer fails to perform any of the terms and that
breach causes the client damage, that contract could become
grounds for a lawsuit. There are also implied terms that
govern a lawyer's conduct such as competence, disclosure
of conflict of interest, obligation to inform the client
about certain matters, confidentiality, and the obligation
to obtain the client's consent before settling a case.
If the lawyer doesn't perform either the oral or written
terms of the contract, or the implied terms, the lawyer
has committed a wrong. |
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Fraud: Anytime a lawyer purposely misrepresents
something and the client is injured in some way because
of his/her reliance on the untruth, the lawyer has committed
a wrong. |
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Theft
or conversion: A lawyer who bills a client for fees
that were not incurred, or takes a payment of settlement
that belongs to the client has committed a wrong. |
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Breach of fiduciary duty: Any time a lawyer breaches
any of the many fiduciary duties owed to a client, such
as putting his/her interests ahead of the client's, or
putting another client's interest ahead the client's a
wrong has been committed. |
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Violations
of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act: A lawyer
may be liable under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices
Act for:
| 1) |
An
express misrepresentation of a material fact that
cannot be characterized as advice, judgment or
opinion; |
| 2) |
A
failure to disclose information concerning goods
or services which was known at the time of the
transaction if such failure to disclose such information
was intended to induce the consumer into a transaction
into which the consumer would not have entered
had the information been disclosed; |
| 3) |
An
unconscionable action or course of action that
cannot be characterized as advice, judgment or
opinion; or |
| 4) |
A
breach of an express warranty that cannot be characterized
as advice, judgment or opinion. |
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If you
believe that you may have a legal malpractice case, contact
the law offices of Lance Christopher Kassab, P.C. Telephone
713-522-7400 or complete and submit our Legal
Malpractice Questionnaire or fax it to 713-522-7410.
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