Legal Question in Legal Malpractice in Massachusetts

legal malpractice
I hired an attorney for a medical malpractice suite. He did nothing in the case and except put me off for over a year. Then out of the blue six weeks before the statue of limitations runs out he tell me that it was a coincidence and he wasn't going to file on my behalf. I was in shock, I was under the impression he had filed months prior. I feel I was scammed and he did this to prevent me from being able to file a suite against this doctor. Nobody could find a lawyer to take this case with only six weeks left, two weeks before christmas. I tried they all said the same thing, I wish you would have called me months ago.

Asked on 11/11/08, 10:15 am

3 Answers from Attorneys

Christopher Earley Law Office of Christopher Earley

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Re: legal malpractice

Sorry to hear about your troubles. My office handles these matters. Call me if you would like to talk this out. Thanks.

Chris Earley

Answered on 11/11/08, 10:22 am

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Alan Fanger Alan S. Fanger, Esq.

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Re: legal malpractice

Thanks for your question. In order to prove legal malpractice against your former attorney, you would have to prove two things: (a) that your attorney's conduct fell below the acceptable standard of care; and (b) that you would have prevailed in your medical malpractice case had your attorney exercised that acceptable standard of care. The first element would appear to be much easier for you to prove than the second. An attorney in a medical malpractice case has no business leaving a client "high and dry" with just six weeks to go before the limitations period expires. Med-mal cases typically take months to evaluate, and most attorneys I know who are consulted within a close proximity to the running of the limitations period will not get involved in the case. The larger question, however, is whether you would have prevailed. Defendants prevail in med mal cases about 70 percent of the time. You would need experts from both the medical and legal professions, and both would be expensive. Unless you can find an attorney who is supremely confident that you would have won the underlying case, your challenge in suing your former attorney would be daunting, not to mention expensive.

Answered on 11/11/08, 10:32 am

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