Legal Question in Legal Malpractice in Maryland
Legal malpractice in Maryland
We (siblings & I) have a pending legal malpractice case in Maryland. Our present attorney had asked the insurance carrier for the gross amount plus interests that we can legally prove is owed to us. Our attorney has now come back to us with an offer of half the amount and says that we cannot sue for anymore than the net amount (net = what we would have gotten less the original attornies 1/3) and then we would have to pay the new attorney 1/3 of the new offer. Our position is that we should not be paying the original attorney (whom we are sueing) anything and we certainly should have to continue getting less and less because of someone elses mistake. What is the statute regarding recovery on legal malpractice. Thank you.
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Legal malpractice in Maryland
Without knowing all the details here's how it could go. Kindly understand that there are many matters which can affect your situation.
The first attorney, or firm, that took the case generally recovers for billable amounts under his/her/its contract. This needs to be qualified and shown.
The second attorney takes a fee under contract which should include compensation to the first.
The type of case, costs incurred, applicable contract(s) and other factors of analysis may apply.
Once this review is completed the adequacy of the intial offer is at point.
Any offer of settlement with an insurer should be reviewed closely. It is questionable whether this was done as you have been requested to quantify damages.
Contact me should you wish to discuss.
Re: Legal malpractice in Maryland
Legal malpractice as a tort or contract action is no different than any other such case. You hired the first attorney on a contingency basis to settle or resolve your claim. You didn't specify, but presumably through that attorney's inaction or incompetence, you lost your claim. Had he achieved the result you anticipated, you would have recovered provable damages, less his contingency fee of 1/3. Your malpractice case is also being handled on a contingency, so your current attorney will charge you that fee against any settlement or judgment. You could ask your current attorney to include your additional legal expenses as consequential damages in your claim against the first attorney under a negligence theory, so that you would be "made whole" in the final analysis.
Re: Legal malpractice in Maryland
Your refusal to share any amounts of the insurance payout with the attorney or the firm who are responsible for your malpractice claim(s) seems eminently reasonable, although, not being licensed in Maryland, I have no information as to what Maryland's malpractice insurance rules may require in this type of situation.
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