When people are injured in car accidents here in the Newark area, they have the right to hold negligent drivers responsible. This is generally done through a personal injury lawsuit and it allows victims to recover money for their related medical expenses, lost wages and other costs.
It tends to be best to work with an attorney to file a personal injury claim rather than work directly with the driver’s insurer, because insurers often try to minimize claims. In a recent case, however, a man says his attorney botched his personal injury claim causing him to miss out on compensation he needed for medical expenses.
This case took place in Illinois where a victim of a rear-end car accident tried to collect compensation for brain, back, neck and torso injuries he sustained in the accident. The man’s lawyer, however, apparently made a major mistake with that lawsuit, and now the man is suing his attorney for legal malpractice.
According to the legal malpractice lawsuit, the man’s attorney named the wrong person or party as a defendant in the lawsuit. Because of this mistake, the statute of limitations expired and now the victim can no longer pursue a personal injury lawsuit to obtain compensation for his injuries.
He originally sought more than $75,000 in damages for his injuries, and he is now hoping to recoup that through the legal malpractice claim.
While we do not know the merits of this particular case, legal malpractice lawsuits are a way to hold lawyers accountable when they fail to act competently. People hire lawyers to protect their interests, and they entrust them with their cases. When attorneys fail to meet the standards of their profession and it results in damages to clients, it may be wise for those clients to learn about their rights to claim legal malpractice.
Source: The Madison-St. Clair Record, “Legal malpractice case claims wrong defendant named in suit,” Kelly Holleran, March 21, 2013
- Our litigation and appeals law firm handles legal malpractice cases in New Jersey, protecting the rights of those who have been harmed by their attorneys.
