Warning: Consult Another Attorney Immediately if You Think Your Attorney Committed Legal Malpractice

Suppose you hire an attorney to prosecute your claim, and your case is dismissed or an adverse ruling is rendered.  Maybe the judge stated something negative regarding your attorney.  Maybe your attorney told you to do something or he did something that turned out to be a mistake or just did not seem right.  Maybe afterwards, you questioned the attorney about it, and he told you everything would be fine or that it would be fixed on appeal.  Do not rely on your attorney’s advice that everything will be okay.  If you know of facts showing that your attorney did or may have done something wrong, the best course of action is to consult another attorney regarding your potential legal potential malpractice claim.

Many legal malpractice claims have been barred by the statute of limitations because the client continued to allow the attorney to represent him and relied on the attorney’s advice after knowing that the attorney committed an error.  For example, in the case of Sommer v. Womick, 2005 Tenn. App. LEXIS 424 (Tenn. Ct. App. July 18, 2005), the day before trial of a medical malpractice action, the judge dismissed the plaintiffs’ case because the judge found that the plaintiffs’ expert witness did not comply with the requirements of the rules of civil procedure.  As such, the plaintiffs had no expert testimony to prove their case and dismissal was warranted.

At that hearing, at which the plaintiffs were present, the judge specifically stated that plaintiffs’ counsel did not present expert testimony meeting the requirements of Rule 26 and did not “do sufficient work” to meet the rule’s requirements.  The attorney subsequently told the plaintiffs the dismissal was not his fault, that they would win on appeal, and that their expert would be allowed to testify.  The attorney appealed the decision for the plaintiff, but the appellate court affirmed the trial court’s decision.

The plaintiffs then filed a legal malpractice action after the appellate court rendered its decision.  The plaintiffs argued that they did not understand the trial judge’s comments in the underlying case to be critical of their attorney, and accordingly, the statute of limitations did not begin to run until the appellate court rendered its decision affirming the trial court. However, the judge found that the trial judge’s decision in the underlying lawsuit was sufficient to put the plaintiffs on notice that their attorney had mishandled the case.  The court found that a reasonable person would have been put on notice three years ago, when the trial court dismissed the underlying case, that the expert was excluded and the case dismissed because the attorney did not produce an expert who complied with the requirements of Tennessee law, especially in light of the judge’s comment that the attorney failed to “do sufficient work.”

The result may seem harsh.  Most people would not think to pursue a legal malpractice claim while an adverse ruling is on appeal.  But this case should serve as a warning that if you have knowledge of any facts, or a reasonable person in your situation would have knowledge of any facts, putting you on notice that your attorney committed an error, the prudent thing to do is to immediately consult with another attorney about a potential legal malpractice case.  Otherwise, you may suffer the result of the plaintiffs in the Sommer case and have your legal malpractice case dismissed on statute of limitations grounds.

If you would like more information on understanding your rights following legal malpractice, follow this link to our Articles Library and click on Clients Present in Court When an Adverse Ruling is Rendered based on Attorney Error or Misconduct are Put on Notice of a Potential Legal Malpractice Claim or call us today for a free case consultation.  Do not delay or you may lose your claim.