Legal Question in Legal Malpractice in Pennsylvania

Legal Malpractice

My brother was killed in 1989. Underage drinking party, he was hit with a bat, and left to lay outside for 5 hours. Then his resperator shut off w/no alarm, and 2 witnesses, but nurse lied. There was no question as to who what where when or why it happened, all was admitted. Our civil trial lawyers started bringing cases against , the kids @ the party, beer disributer, hospital. In the end we were told that the judge sided w/defense. We had no reason to doubt. I just found out we lost due to non pros. No activity by our lawyers for 4 years. The case was closed in 1997, but we were not notified until 2000. We would call and be told, the judge is making his decision, (for 3 years). I JUST found this out, they have distroyed all of the civil case files that we have been asking for since the case was closed, because the files contained pictures of my brother. Please tell me if there is ANYTHING that I can do. I really feel as though we have been deceived, and I wish we had known sooner, because we would have done something then. Please, I hope that someone can help, my brother not only lost his life, but all forms of justice have been taken away from him, even in the criminal trial. I don't mean to beg, but I am desperate to find help


Asked on 3/25/08, 1:59 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Maxwell S. Kennerly The Beasley Firm

Re: Legal Malpractice

Lawyers have several duties to their clients, including a duty to keep their client reasonably (and promptly) informed of the matter, and a duty to vigorously prosecute matters on behalf of the client.

The situation you described may indicate malpractice, and you should speak with an attorney. If you want, you can contact me, and I will review your case, or you can seek out attorneys otherwise, such as through your local County Bar Association or the Pennsylvania Bar Association, both of which are happy to forward potential clients to attorneys.

Either way, you should act soon: the situation you described does not have a clear date at which your claim would be barred as untimely. In fact, given how the malpractice happened back in 1997 (or earlier), it's possible the claim is already barred. (Don't let that dissuade you - it's also possible your claim is very timely, given your recent discovery of the non pros).

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Answered on 3/25/08, 7:38 am


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