The recently filed lawsuit by a high profile reality television personality against her former attorney for legal malpractice has generated a great deal of finger pointing as both sides toss accusations at each other. Among the accusations made by the client is that errors made by her attorney led to bankruptcy fraud charges against her.
For his part, the attorney has accused his former client of falsifying tax returns and other documents long before he represented her. He also claims that his representation of her had nothing to do with her eventual incarceration.
Although this lawsuit is much more high profile than the average transactional and trial malpractice case, it will still come down to the ability of the client to produce evidence to prove that her attorney committed acts of legal malpractice. Accusations might be enough to get a lawsuit started, but evidence of disclosure issues, failure to know the law or other acts of malpractice will be required for the client to succeed.
An attorney retained to represent someone who is a victim of legal malpractice under similar circumstances will likely review the correspondence and conversations between the client and her attorney. This might indicate how much she told her attorney and whether he acted properly in advising and representing her under those circumstances.
Turning accusations into a winnable court case can be difficult. A person who may have been harmed by fraud, self-dealing or other improper conduct by a law firm might benefit from having the facts and circumstances reviewed by a Montclair, New Jersey, legal malpractice attorney.
Source: Daily Record, “’Real Housewife’ Teresa Giudice claims lawyer malpractice,” Peggy Wright, July 30, 2015
