San Francisco Legal Malpractice Attorney

An attorney should be someone you can truly trust to ensure your legal rights remain protected under all circumstances. When a lawyer fails to live up to the basic standards of professional practice, it can prejudice their clients’ cases, and lead to devastating consequences for the client. The Helbraun Law Firm focuses our practice in representing clients injured by an attorney’s professional negligence.

Our firm concentrates on efficiently but aggressively representing clients through every step of the litigation process, with careful attention to opportunities to pursue cost-effective alternative dispute resolution.

The Helbraun Law Firm works with victims of legal malpractice in San Francisco, Oakland, Alameda County, Santa Clara County, and throughout Northern California. Below is a short introduction to legal malpractice claims and what our firm can do for you. If you believe your attorney’s malpractice hurt your case, contact our firm today at (415) 982-4000.

What Is Legal Malpractice?

Persons engaged in professions are held to a legal standard of care beyond that of the average, reasonable, person. Doctors, lawyers, architects, real estate brokers, and other trained professionals upon whose professional advice their clients rely, are held to the standard of care of a reasonable professional practicing that area. When an attorney performs below the professional standard of care for an attorney, and that failure adversely impacts their client’s case, the client may have recourse in the form of a legal malpractice case.

One common example of legal malpractice is missing the statute of limitations. For example, if a client hires an attorney and tells them about their case, the attorney must quickly identify the legal deadline – the statute of limitations — to ensure that the claim is filed in court on time. If the attorney fails to correctly calendar this date, and the client’s lawsuit is not timely filed, in a timely manner, the client will forever be unable to pursue their legal rights in court. Assuming they can show they were likely to have won the case had it been timely filed, the client may pursue a legal malpractice action against the negligent attorney.

In California, an attorney can be held liable for legal malpractice if they failed to use the skill and care that a reasonably careful lawyer would have used in similar circumstances, and this caused their client financial damages. This is usually a question for a jury. If a victim of legal malpractice can prove that an attorney’s negligence caused them to lose an otherwise meritorious their case, then they are entitled to pursue monetary damages from the negligent attorney.

Legal Malpractice Insurance

Most firms carry legal malpractice insurance, which is specifically intended to cover these types of claims. However, if a lawyer does not have legal malpractice insurance, they are required to inform the client in writing at the time of engagement. This is mandatory under Rule 1.4.2 of California’s Rules of Professional Liability Insurance. Consider speaking with an experienced California legal malpractice attorney at the Helbraun Law to help you navigate applicable malpractice insurance policy issues, and maximize the amount of compensation you may be able to receive for a legal malpractice claim.

What Helbraun Law Firm Can Do for You

One of the great ironies of legal malpractice is that clients often have to hire another attorney to sue a previous attorney. We understand that many people who have been affected by legal malpractice are usually suffering from severe physical or financial injuries, and they are quite possibly feeling disillusioned by the legal process. The lawyers for legal malpractice at Helbraun Law Firm serve Northern California from our San Francisco office, and are committed to treating each case with the utmost care.

One reason many attorneys commit malpractice in the first place is that they failed to appropriately manage their caseload. These attorneys take on too many cases, and as a result, they cannot dedicate enough time and diligence to handle each one properly. At the Helbraun Law Firm, we run a small and efficient firm, which allows us to focus on taking care of each one of our clients.

A legal malpractice case typically requires the aid of an experienced attorney from the same geographic area to testify as an expert witness that your prior attorney’s conduct fell below the professional standard of care. We begin each case with a thorough analysis, and we conduct an extensive investigation into the previous representation. Though we strive to settle each case as quickly and efficiently as possible, we will take our clients’ cases to trial if necessary to win them the justice they deserve.

Contact the Helbraun Law Firm to Handle Your Legal Malpractice Case

With over 30 years of experience, the attorneys at Helbraun Law Firm have represented clients in a wide variety of attorney malpractice cases. Whether we are negotiating the claim with insurance companies, arbitrating the case in an alternative dispute resolution forum, or litigating the case in court, we are dedicated to providing a high quality of legal advocacy for each of our clients. Lawyers make mistakes, but at Helbraun Law Firm, we believe people deserve better. Contact us online or call our office at (415) 982-4000 to tell us more about your case.