When you first started seeking a lawyer for your case, you thought that it would be fairly easy to win. You felt that you clearly had the upper hand, and you just needed someone to guide you through the legal process. Your lawyer agreed, and you hired them.
Then you lost the case. You were surprised, of course, and you began looking back at what happened. What you realized is it felt like your lawyer simply wasn’t working hard enough to win the case, perhaps because they took too many cases or perhaps because they already thought that it was a given that they would win. Either way, you want to know if this constitutes malpractice.
Did it mean they were incompetent?
This can be a tricky situation because simply losing a case is not nearly enough to claim that there was legal malpractice. Neither is feeling like your lawyer didn’t work hard enough.
The thing to consider is that you deserve a certain standard when it comes to the legal services rendered. If the lawyer violated a contract, acted negligently and/or didn’t reach that standard, then you may have a case.
Part of failing to this standard may include not working hard enough. For instance, a lawyer who simply neglects to get certain documents or continually misses deadlines may do so because they’re not putting appropriate care and effort into the case. But these are very solid examples of things you expected your lawyer to do, and that any reasonable person would’ve expected, and that may mean that you’ve experienced malpractice if they have failed to do so.
If you do find yourself in this position, be sure you know what legal options you have to find redress.