Missoula Legal Malpractice Lawyer

Legal malpractice occurs when a licensed attorney’s negligence or misconduct harms a client who paid for their services. When you seek legal assistance from licensed professionals, you expect to pay for accurate and helpful advice and a certain level of legal quality and care.

Sometimes, legal negligence can cause you to sustain monetary and non-monetary damages. When that occurs, you may pursue compensation to cover your losses with help from a qualified attorney. Our Missoula legal malpractice lawyers could review your case and answer specific questions regarding the process and potential settlements.

Examples of Legal Malpractice

Some examples of legal malpractice include the following:

• Failure to meet essential deadlines, resulting in negative consequences for the client
• Lack of adequate legal knowledge or competence to handle the client’s case
• Breaches of fiduciary duty, such as failing to act in the plaintiff’s best interest, conflicts of interest, and misappropriation of funds
• Negligent legal advice and guidance, such as misleading or incorrect information that causes harm to the client
• Failure to communicate effectively to keep the individual informed about the progress or developments of their case, resulting in damages and losses

Our Missoula legal malpractice attorneys can evaluate the case specifics to determine if the elements necessary to establish liability are present.

Establishing Liability to Win Damages

To establish a legal malpractice claim in Montana, the plaintiff must prove the presence of specific elements, including the following:

• There was an attorney/client relationship, and the defendant owed the petitioner a duty of care to action professionally
• The defendant’s actions caused a breach of their fiduciary and legal obligations
• The violation caused the plaintiff to suffer harm

Some examples of damages the plaintiff may be eligible to collect from the defendant include payment for economic indifference, legal fees, lost profit, and emotional distress.

Limit on Time to Commence Action

Personal injury, also called tort, laws limit the time for the victim of legal malpractice to pursue compensation from the liable party. According to the guidelines provided by the Montana Code Annotated § 27-2-206, the claimant must file the case within three years of the date the malpractice occurred. The discovery rule provides an exception for those who do not know of the damages immediately, and the time starts the day they unearth the legal professional’s negligence.

Contact a Seasoned Legal Malpractice Attorney in Missoula

You have the right to seek reimbursement from the liable party if you sustained damages and losses because of the negligence of a licensed legal professional. When you hire an attorney for their experience and legal services and then sustain damages, civil laws allow you to initiate legal action to hold them accountable.

The recovery claims process is complex and often requires overcoming various hurdles to prove liability and collect a just award. One of our Missoula legal malpractice lawyers could guide you through the process and advocate for a favorable outcome. Call soon and schedule an appointment to discuss how we can help you with your case.