Legal Question in Legal Malpractice in Utah

Bad advice from attorney

I am involved with a discrimination lawsuit against my former employer. After I left my job because of the discrimination, my husband and I had to file bankruptcy because of the loss of income. The attorney we used for bankruptcy advised me I did not need to claim the discrimination complaint on our list of assets as it was not a lawsuit at the time. Now that it is a lawsuit (2 years later), I was made aware from a new attorney that it should have been listed so now the proceeds, if any will be handled through the bankruptcy trustee because it wasn't listed when the bankruptcy was discharged. Is there any recourse for me against the attorney who gave me ill advice? It seems the only amount I will be able to recover now is the amount we took out in bankruptcy, which will go to pay our creditors.


Asked on 1/12/05, 8:43 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Alvin Lundgren Alvin R. Lundgren, L.C.

Re: Bad advice from attorney

You could file a complaint, the critical question is whether you are entitled to any damages. The trustee would have had the same claim for damages then as he would now. If the amount you get in your settlement is not great enough for there to be any left over for you, you would have to prove that there would have been more left over if the claim was made earlier.

Have your present attorney negotiate something with the trustee. You can always threaten to dismiss the lawsuit unless the trustee makes a deal with you.

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Answered on 1/13/05, 12:19 am


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