Legal Malpractice

Legal malpractice occurs when a lawyer fails to properly represent a client.

Just as a doctor may commit medical malpractice while treating a patient, so too may a lawyer commit legal malpractice upon a client. Both are professionals held to a standard of care in their profession. Both can cause grievous injury – whether personal, medical or economic. Unfortunately, the proliferation of lawyers has resulted in an over-abundant supply of attorneys who may be less skilled in areas to which they offer their services. Malpractice can occur by a mistake being made by a skilled lawyer, or by negligence on the part of an unskilled, inexperienced or incompetent attorney. Under any circumstance the client can be harmed and should consult a legal malpractice attorney.

A law firm is legally responsible for the mistakes of the lawyers it employs. A malpractice claim against a lawyer or law firm can be caused by a lawyer’s negligence, by doing something inappropriate during the attorney-client relationship (including divulging confidences or acting contrary to the client’s interests) or in some other way breaching a contract or the lawyer’s duty to the client. One of the most common mistakes lawyers make is to miss a critical deadline that results in harm to their client. For example, all cases are subject to a statute of limitations. If the lawyer fails to preserve a case by missing a statute of limitation, there may be a case of legal malpractice.

Leighton Panoff Law, P.A. is committed to representing clients who have suffered harm at the hands of legal malpractice. It is the firm’s position that trial lawyers have an obligation to handle these cases and bring justice to clients who have suffered injury because of legal mistakes. This makes the legal profession stronger by maintaining high standards and holding ourselves to those standards.

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The firm recently obtained $1 million on behalf of a client whose lawyer failed to meet a deadline, resulting in the loss of her case.  The case was settled confidentially but provides funds to reimburse the client for the case she was unable to bring.

Click here for examples of our pending and finalized cases.

Disclaimer: The information about past verdicts and settlements of the firm’s cases are based on the unique facts of each case. These amounts reflect the gross recovery in each case (before attorneys fees, expenses and medical costs are deducted).  Although these results were obtained by our firm, they may not indicate the success or value of any other case.  By clicking on portions of this web site you are acknowledging that each case is unique and must be evaluated on its own merits. The information contained here has not been reviewed or approved by The Florida Bar.