Legal malpractice can occur in many different ways. It can occur as a result of a missed deadline for filing your lawsuit, failing to properly investigate your case, a botched trial, failure to meet trial deadlines, settling your case for an amount extremely less than what your case is worth, and numerous other scenarios. Not all errors are necessarily malpractice. There are certain risks that arise in the practice of the law. The fact that there was a poor outcome of your case does not necessarily mean that the lawyer can be held liable.
To be held liable, the lawyer must have fallen below the "standard of care." Not only must the lawyer have caused you damages, but your damages must result from the lawyer not following the proper standard of care. The lawyer's actions are measured against other lawyers' actions.
Legal malpractice claims must be filed within a certain time period. If the claims are not filed within these time limits, then the client and/or his/her family will forever lose their right to bring a claim against the lawyer. The Law Offices of Paul Snow have experience in handling legal malpractice claims and work with the finest legal experts to insure that the outcome of these claims are successful.
The last legal malpractice case that i handled involved a young lady who was 38 weeks pregnant. She was involved in a car wreck and was taken to the local hospital by ambulance. After the emergency room doctor determined that the mother was stable, the E/R doctor then just asked the nurse to check the heart rate of the unborn infant. No one consulted with the OB-GYN department to see how to treat the infant. Within a few hours, the mother started bleeding and an ultrasound showed that the infant was in distress. The infant died shortly thereafter.
The family hired a local lawfirm who filed suit against the hospital, but not the E/R doctor. After the time ran out for suing the doctor, the attorney for the hospital filed legal papers in court claiming that the hospital was not liable for any actions of the E/R doctor. It was at this point in time when the lawyers for the family said: "Oh _hit". They realized that they messed-up by not suing the doctor and now it was too late to sue the doctor because the time limit has run out on suing the doctor.
The family was able to settle their claim against the hospital for $235,000 at mediation. Thereafter, the family hired my lawfirm to make a claim for legal malpractice against the first lawfirm for not suing the E/R doctor in the original lawsuit that was filed. After totaling working up the case, including hiring expert witnesses, we were able to settle the claim against the lawfirm for an additional $550,000. The family received a total settlement of $785,000. Part of the first settlement was structured so that the family will be guaranteed payments in the future for everyone in the family.
If you or a loved one believes they were damaged as a result of the legal negligence of a lawyer, contact Paul Snow online or call 601-969-1977 or 1-800-640-4478 to discuss your legal rights.
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