Running a successful California company means that you have a lot of responsibility. In many cases, you may need to delegate certain duties to others in efforts to ensure that you complete everything correctly and as necessary. As a result, when the business had a legal matter to address, you contacted an attorney to handle the issue.
Unfortunately, this typically wise and prudent step did not benefit the company in your case. In fact, you believe that the attorney committed legal malpractice, and now, you want to have the issue handled appropriately to protect the company and its interests.
What type of legal malpractice occurred?
It is important to remember that not every error or misstep by a legal professional is legal malpractice. However, certain actions by an attorney could go against your company’s best interests and constitute malpractice. Some examples of issues that may have affected your business include the following:
- Dishonesty: If an attorney outright lies about your case to you, other members of the company or even the judge, that action could fall under legal malpractice.
- Misusing company funds: The company provides the attorney with money to perform his or her duties and those duties necessary to handle the legal matter. If an attorney misuses those funds, you may have reason to take action.
- Failure to communicate: Though your attorney may have a lot to do, you should be able to communicate about your case. If you attempt to reach your attorney multiple times without success or without return of contact, he or she may be violating ethical obligations.
- Carrying out criminal activity: If your attorney does something against the law, whether involving your case or not, he or she may have committed malpractice.
- Incompetence: Your attorney should have a certain level of competence and the ability to perform job duties at that level. If not, you may have reason to file a report.
Of course, these examples are not the only ones that show legal malpractice. Though it can certainly be disheartening to reach out to a professional for assistance only to be met with incompetence, lies, lack of communication or other issues, it is important to remember that you and your company do not have to suffer silently. It may be worthwhile to reach out to a legal malpractice attorney to gain information on how you could effectively address this issue.