Tennessee Legal Malpractice: Damages are Required

By Thomas Greer | January 26, 2015

You hire an attorney, and you think your attorney will advocate for you and represent you to the best of his or her ability.  In the beginning, everything goes smoothly.  Then the calls get more and more infrequent.  You suspect the attorney may have lied to you or not complied with your wishes.  However, you remain with your attorney, and your attorney successfully prosecutes your case or defends your interests.

Do you have a legal malpractice cause of action?

Damages are an essential requirement of any legal malpractice action.  Therefore, even if your attorney lied to you, did not communicate with you, or otherwise did not act in a manner you consider to be ethical and above board, if you won your case, you have no monetary damages.  Does that mean your attorney’s conduct was acceptable or even ethical?  Absolutely not.   However, you will not be able to file suit against your attorney in a court of law if you have not suffered any damages.

Are you then without recourse for your attorney’s actions?  No.  You may file a complaint with the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility.  While you will not recover anything from filing such a claim, the Board will look into the attorney’s conduct and see if the attorney needs to disciplined for his or her actions.  While you may not have a victory in a court of law, at least you may rest easy knowing that you might have prevented another client from receiving the same treatment that you received.

The attorneys at Bailey & Greer can help you determine whether you have suffered any damages as a result of your attorney’s actions, so call us today for a free case consultation.

Posted in Legal Malpractice, Library