Legal Question in Business Law in Missouri

I started an action agenst a person who bought my business and breeched the written contract in Dec of 2008. The lawyer who is supose to represent me has let this thing drag on since than even with me prompting him several times to get this thing into court. Now we find that the defendant has died leaving me holding the bag for over $18,000.00 plus lawyer fees.

Can I sue this lawyer for not representing me in an agressive manner and can I still recover the monies owed me or am I juse out of luck.

I do have good records and several e-mails between the lawyer and myself stating my concern about the way he was handeling the case.


Asked on 6/21/11, 11:44 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jonathan D. McDowell McDowell & McDowell, LLC

If you have a winning case, you can still recover money owed to you by the decedent but you must pursue that against the decedent's estate. The estate will be left to handle any claims from creditors including judgment creditors.

You can sue the attorney for legal malpractice but it is a hard case to win. You have 2 years to sue and must prove that the attorney would have won the case but for his negligence. Also, many attorneys are wary of taking a case another attorney has ignored, tried, pursued, etc. because of the malpractice liability that comes from taking a case in the middle.

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Answered on 6/21/11, 12:14 pm


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