For the past three years, real estate lawyers have raked in more legal malpractice claims than any other legal practice area, quickly followed by trusts and estates, and corporate and securities law. Regardless of the type of law, anyone in Sherman Oaks whose lawyers caused some kind of damage know the importance of a legal malpractice lawsuit. Negligent legal work can cost individuals thousands or millions of dollars, depending on why the client hired the lawyer and what mistakes the lawyer made. Filing a legal malpractice lawsuit is one of the best ways to get compensation following a lawyer’s mistakes.
In a recent study by a national insurance broker found that both the number of claims of legal malpractice and the severity of claims are on the rise. The study found that five insurance companies are dealing with more than 21 claims of $50 million or more, one of which is responsible for 11 of those claims. The insurance companies also reported a steady climb in legal malpractice claims over the years.
So what is it that lawyers are doing wrong? By far, it is conflicts of interest that are causing the most legal malpractice claims. Part of the reason why there are so many claims of conflict of interest is that the legal market is driving many law firms to laterally hire attorneys and those attorneys are apt to bring their clients or work with them. If law firms want to hire attorneys from other firms, it is essential that they perform conflict analyses on all their new hires to get a good understanding of which cases the attorney and firm can take on.
Legal malpractice is a big problem in Los Angeles and across the country, but a legal malpractice lawsuit can help victims recover some of their damages.
Source: Insurance Journal, “Law Firms See Rise in Malpractice Claim Frequency, Severity,” June 27, 2013