Legal Question in Legal Malpractice in Iowa

In 1997, I was charged with possession of Marijuana. Since then, I haven't had any other charges, put myself through college. I've had problems getting jobs and apartments after criminal background checks and I always wondered why, but assumed it was the marijuana charge. Just this past weekend, I found out that the Attorney representing me back then filed it as a DISTRIBUTION OF AMPHETIMINES!!! which is felony!! I called the clerk of court, and they verified that it was indeed only a possesion of marijuana charge, but what about the past 17 years I've been walking around with a felony on my record which has prevented me from getting jobs, apartments, college scholarships?? Is that legal malpractice?


Asked on 5/16/14, 1:20 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Luedeman solo practitioner

The first thing you need to do is see the clerk of court and have them retrieve the file so you can inspect its contents. Then you need to hire an attorney and see if you can correct the record if it is as you claim. I doubt that a malpractice claim can be pursued 18 years after the fact.

I can tell you that the way cases are indexed on Iowa Courts Online is according to the top charge even if they're pled down later on. For the outcome you have to read the disposition and most people don't bother to go any farther than the index.

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Answered on 5/28/14, 6:15 am


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