Lawyers have a fiduciary relationship with their clients. They have fiduciary duties, which are legal responsibilities, to always act in their client’s best interest. The client typically trusts that their lawyer will act within the scope of their duties.
There are a number of duties lawyers have, including:
- The duty to act and protect the client’s interests and make sensible decisions through careful examinations
- The duty to put the client’s well-being first and to avoid conflict of interest
- The duty to act within the law and never act outside of it
- The duty to keep all information confidential
- The duty to act with the highest degree of professionalism and caution
- The duty to be transparent with the client and only the client
In some cases, a lawyer may act outside of the fiduciary duty. When they fail to perform their fiduciary duty, they are breaching their responsibilities. As a result, they may harm their client by failing to pursue a successful legal case or losing potential damages.
How to prove that a lawyer’s misconduct violated their fiduciary duty
To establish that there was a breach of fiduciary duty, several elements may need to be proven. First, it typically must be shown that a lawyer had a fiduciary duty to a client, such as a written agreement that a they were representing their client.
Once fiduciary duty is established, a claim must show how the lawyer breached their duty. Once proven, a claim should show what type of damages were caused by the lawyer’s breach of duty. When a lawyer acts unprofessionally, it often takes experienced legal guidance to handle the issue.