Proving Legal Negligence

To win a negligence case against a lawyer, you must prove:

• Your lawyer owed you a duty to competently represent you
• He or she made a mistake or otherwise breached the duty owed to you
• Your lawyer's mistake injured or harmed you in a way that can be measured financially

Legal malpractice attorneys usually charge a contingency fee of approximately 40 percent of the amount you eventually receive.

Any legal malpractice lawyer considering taking your case will want to know whether your original lawyer had malpractice insurance to cover your losses, and will balance whether your provable losses are high enough to risk investing the time and energy to take the matter to trial.

The time limit for filing a legal malpractice case -- called a statute of limitations -- can be as short as one year is two years, generally, so it's best to contact a legal malpractice lawyer right away if you think you might have a legal malpractice case.