People discussing legal malpractice often focus on stories involving egregious oversights. Cases where lawyers fail to file papers before the statute of limitations expires or are unaware of critical judicial precedent could lead to frustrated clients making viable allegations of legal malpractice against an attorney.
Generally speaking, lawyers who behave in unprofessional ways or who make major mistakes while representing their clients could be at risk of legal malpractice allegations. Some legal malpractice claims stem from a completely different type of misconduct. Specifically, an attorney’s clients could take legal action alleging malpractice if the lawyer has engaged in financial misconduct and harmed those clients as a result.
What types of financial behavior could constitute legal malpractice?
Inaccurate billing practices
Lawyers typically bill their clients on an hourly basis. They establish an hourly rate in their contracts with their clients and then bill them in specific increments of time. Attorneys should always provide their clients with an in-depth invoice affirming when they spent time on the case and how much time they committed to different activities.
In scenarios where clients notice alarming trends regarding a lawyer’s billing practices, such as a history of the lawyer charging 30 minutes of time or more for emails that may only be a few sentences long, clients may have reason to question the amount of time for which the attorney billed them. When lawyers intentionally overcharge their clients, that could potentially constitute malpractice.
Improper management of a retainer
Many lawyers require a lump-sum payment provided upfront before they offer any advice or legal support. They then bill against the retainer until they have used it up completely. At that point, they may send an invoice to the client requesting additional funds.
The rules for retainers are very clear. Attorneys have an obligation to keep them completely separate from their personal financial resources and their professional bank accounts. Generally speaking, they have to open a separate account used solely for the client’s retainer, much like how landlords must keep security deposits separate. They also have an obligation to return any unused portion of the retainer after fully resolving the client’s legal matter.
Clients frustrated by the unprofessional or inappropriate financial practices of their lawyers may need to discuss the situation with a skilled legal team to determine if they have grounds for a legal malpractice lawsuit. Taking legal action against an attorney can potentially compensate clients for the losses they’ve suffered because of the lawyer’s misconduct or unprofessional behavior.