Attorney Malpractice in New York State

The essential elements that must be proved in every legal malpractice case are:

• The client retained the attorney to provide legal services regarding a specific legal matter;
• The attorney was negligent in the handling of that legal matter;
• Had the attorney not been negligent, the client would have achieved a more favorable result;
• The failure to achieve a more favorable result resulted in actual damages to the client.

If you believe you have a claim for legal malpractice in New York, the experienced attorneys of Powers & Santola can provide you with the thoughtful legal counsel and highly ethical representation you need. Please call our offices in Albany and Syracuse at 866.689.9692 or contact us via e-mail for answers to your important questions or to schedule a free consultation.

Attorney-Client Relationship

The existence of an attorney-client relationship does not depend upon a formal retainer or the payment of a fee. There must, however, be an explicit understanding that the client has retained the attorney to perform a specific legal service.

Attorney Negligence and Malpractice

An attorney is negligent if he or she fails to exercise that degree of skill commonly used by an ordinary member of the legal profession in handling the type of legal matter for which the attorney was retained. The specific nature of malpractice suits brought against lawyers is as varied as the type of legal issues involved. Malpractice cases can arise from various matters including patent and copyright issues, and/or real estate issues, personal injury or commercial disputes. 

The fact that the underlying legal matter was not resolved in a matter that was satisfactory to the client does not serve as a basis for a legal malpractice suit. Rather, the client must prove that but for the negligence of the lawyer the client would have achieved a more favorable result. Further, that more favorable result must be able to be expressed in some form of actual money damages.

Triple Damages

In addition to suing an attorney for malpractice, New York State law also provides that an attorney can be sued if the lawyer committed “deceit or collusion, with intent to deceive the court or any party.” In such circumstances, in addition to actual damages the party is entitled to receive an amount equal to three times the amount of the actual damages that resulted from the acts of deceit or collusion.

How Soon Must I Sue?

An action for legal malpractice generally must be brought within three years from the date the act of malpractice occurred. If the lawyer continues to represent the client in the same legal matter following the date the malpractice occurs, the time to bring the legal malpractice action may be extended by the “continuous representation” rule until three years after the last day that the attorney represented the client in the specific legal matter in which the malpractice occurred.

Contact Powers & Santola today to schedule a free consultation with an experienced attorney regarding a case of legal malpractice in upstate New York.