Legal Question in Legal Ethics in Maryland

It depends. Not having all the facts of the case, it would be hard for any attorney to provide your chances for success. With that said, if you can prove that (i) you hired the lawyer for the purpose of filing the appeal brief, (ii) the lawyer failed in that task, (iii) you suffered damages, and (iv) you can prove those damages are causally related to the attorney's failure to act, then yes, you can bring an action forward.

A couple thoughts:

(1) Have you approached the lawyer and privately tried to work out a settlement between the two of you? If the lawyer knows he made a mistake by not filing the appeal in a timely manner, the lawyer may be willing to pay you out of pocket or through his malpractice insurance carrier the difference of what you both believe you would have otherwise received in court. Lawyers are people too -- they make mistakes. If you believe that there was no malice in your lawyer's actions, you should consider resolving this quietly.

(2) Have you filed a report with the State Bar (I assume this happened in Maryland?)? This may be a good place to start.

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