Legal Malpractice and the Economy
There are many things that tend to happen when our nation experiences an economic downturn such as the recent recession. Some of them are fairly obvious, like upticks in crime and unemployment rates. Other trends are less obvious, and not many people are aware of them. One such trend is the incidence of legal malpractice claims, which has been observed to follow the ups and downs of the economy.
When the economy is in trouble, people often find themselves short on money. If someone has recently been involved in a legal case where the outcome was unfavorable to them, they may wonder whether they could have won their case and been placed in a better financial position than they are at the present time. They might look back at the work that their attorney did on their behalf and think that the attorney could have done a better job. This thought could lead to more serious analysis, and eventually to an attempt to sue the attorney for legal malpractice if there seems to be evidence to support a conclusion that the attorney did, in fact do something wrong.
If you are wondering which attorneys are subject to the greatest number of legal malpractice claims as a result of the slow economy, real estate attorneys bear a large share of the burden. Business organization, commercial, and business transaction attorneys are also frequently the target of malpractice claims. The reason that these areas of practice generate so many malpractice claims may be that there is a lot of money involved in the transactions that the attorneys are dealing with. An attorney’s failure to achieve victory in a matter of great financial importance to their client is likely to generate more than just hard feelings. Clients may take a very critical look back at everything their attorney has done over the course of the representation, searching for mistakes that could justify a malpractice suit.
Since trusts and estates can also involve large sums of money, attorneys who practice in these areas are also experiencing an increase in malpractice actions against them. These actions are often more emotional than the actions involving business and real estate. It is also worth noting that many claims in this practice area are eventually found to be without merit.
As for the types of law practices that are being sued, it may come as a surprise that more suits are aimed at small firms and sole practitioners than at large law firms. These firms may not have as sophisticated case management and administrative capabilities as larger firms. The economy has also directly affected the way that small firms and sole practitioners do business in that lawyers may take cases in areas that they are not very familiar with in order to keep a large enough caseload to stay afloat. Unless these attorneys spend extra time and attention on ensuring that they are competent in these less familiar practice areas, they may find themselves being accused of not providing competent counsel. Small firms and sole practices are also more numerous than large firms, and handle a greater amount of cases, although the cases are spread out among more entities.
If you feel as though you are the victim of legal malpractice, the Tennessee legal malpractice attorneys at Bailey & Greer, PLLC want to hear from you. We will sit down with you to learn about your case, explain your options, and help you decide how to proceed. To learn more, call us at 901-680-9777 to schedule a time to discuss your case. At Bailey & Greer, PLLC, we are small enough to care, big enough to fight, and experienced enough to win.
Since graduating magna cum laude in 2005 from the University of Memphis School of Law, Thomas has helped make a difference in the lives of victims of serious personal injury, wrongful death, and professional negligence. Thomas has extensive trial experience in both state and federal court. Among other victories in the courtroom, Thomas obtained several impressive jury verdicts and settlements
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