Legal Question in Legal Malpractice in Louisiana

Attorney misses deadline date to file for damages

Can you please tell me what happens when your attorney misses the deadline date to file a claim for your injury? Who is responsible for this mistake?


Asked on 4/14/98, 10:45 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Darrell Hickman Spears & Hickman

Attorney malpractice

It is the attorney's responsibility to ascertain the deadline for filing the lawsuit. If the deadline is missed, it is the attorney's responsibility. You may have a claim against the attorney for legal malpractice. You will need to see another attorney to determine if you have a claim against your former attorney

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Answered on 5/04/98, 6:12 pm
John Pucheu Pucheu, Pucheu & Robinson

Missed deadline for filing claim

A Louisiana attorney who misses a deadline for filing a claim has an ethical obligation to inform the client of the missed deadline. If the claim has prescribed (which means it is too late to file it) the attorney hasa duty to advise the client that the client may be entitled to make a claim against the attorney and his malpractice insurancecompany. The attorney should give the client the name and address of the malpractice insurer. The client should see another attorney to protect his rights. If the client files a malpracticeclaim against his first attorney, he may be entitled to recover the value of the claim that was lost due tothe attorney's negligence. Under Louisiana case law,the first attorney may be able to minimize the amounthe owes by proving the prescribed claim had little value.

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Answered on 5/04/98, 9:51 pm


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