Attorney Malpractice - Divorce Encyclopedia

Encyclopedia: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y

Term Definition Attorney Malpractice - a breach of contract or tort by a lawyer when he or she breaches his or her duty to care to a client or third party.

Application in Divorce Many legal observers believe changes in divorce law in the past thirty years have put lawyers more at risk of malpractice suits. No-fault divorce, combined with equitable distribution, has shifted the emphasis from finding and proving fault to proper identification, assets.

Moreover, courts have been asked to consider whether damages for emotional distress and mental suffering are constitutive of attorney malpractice.

In general, attorney malpractice includes several identifiable elements: action). Grounds for a malpractice action do not include generalized unhappiness with the outcome a divorce action because very few parties to a divorce are ever happy at its conclusion.

To meet an ineffective of counsel standard as grounds for a malpractice action, a plaintiff would have prevailed.

Some jurisdictions require that a person intending to sue a lawyer for malpractice affidavit of merit from a professional legal malpractice attorney who certifies that there are at least reasons for consideration of malpractice.

Sometimes related to attorney malpractice is unethical behavior of attorneys who become sexually or romantically involved with clients. A lawyer who has a sexual relationship with his or her client is unethical. He or she is also at risk of civil fraud, deceit and battery. Lawyers who have sexual relationships with clients are sometimes called bombers.