Legal Question in Legal Malpractice in Ohio
Attorney Misconduct
I hired a Divorce attorney in 2002, who cost me everything. I had to hire a second lawyer to clean up the mess. My second attorny advised me that attorny one was incompenent. Attorney two said that I could sue, but he would not help me find, or aid in anyway, because I should have been smart enough to hire a better attorney. My ex-wife's attorney files insane demands and my attorney did not appeal any of them, nor did he inform me jof those submissions. I lost tens of thousand of dollars. I was told by attroney two that should I sue and win, attorny one has nothing; therefore, I couldn't get anything. Is this right? After paying legal fees and such, would it be worth the attempt?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Attorney Misconduct
The time for filing a lawsuit against an attorney for malpractice, referred to as the statute of limitations, is one year. From your recitation of facts, it would appear that you are beyond that time period, so your lawsuit would most likely be thrown out of court.
Also, in order the file a legal malpractice suit and win, you need an attorney to testify on your behalf that your first attorney's handling of your case fell below the standard of care for an attorney and that this resulted in some kind of identifiable loss for you.
Therefore, I doubt the expense of filing such a lawsuit would be justified. However, I would contact a local attorney if you want to pursue this to get his/her opinion about the statute of limitations' question (there are some exceptions to the one year rule), the cost of the lawsuit, and whether you could get an expert witness to testify on your behalf.
Sincerely,
Paul Nidich
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