When an attorney takes on a legal case, they are responsible for many duties. These duties can include investigating a case, identifying liable parties or creating strategies to win a settlement. In nearly any legal case, one of the most important objectives an attorney may need to meet is the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations is essentially the deadline that a legal case must be filed by or paperwork be submitted for a successful case.
An attorney can help you file important paperwork before deadlines end. If any of these deadlines are missed, it can create issues in reaching a successful legal case. A missed deadline may be the result of neglect or an attorney’s misunderstanding of state laws. As a result, clients may be able to pursue an attorney in a legal malpractice case. Here is what you should know:
Is missing a deadline considered legal malpractice?
There are different statutes of limitations depending on the kind of case a client is pursuing. For example, a personal injury case in California has a statute of limitations of two years from the date of the accident. However, the statute of limitations for contesting a will may be as short as 120 days. There may be some exceptions to the statute of limitations depending on the particular details of any legal case. Two years and three months is a stark difference, which attorneys should be aware of.
If an attorney misses an important deadline to submit paperwork for a legal case, then it can cause serious consequences for clients. A client may want to pursue their attorney for legal malpractice. A client could make an attorney accountable for damages that would have been recovered in a successful legal case. However, clients may need to prove that an attorney did neglect their duties. Legal guidance can help victims of legal malpractice pursue damages if the statute of limitations for a legal case is missed.