Many different professional fields involve lawyers and attorneys who can help their clients in all sorts of ways. Often, lawyers are hired and consulted to help a client fill out paperwork correctly, such as for buying a house or a company or even for writing a will or filing a patient. In other cases, a client needs a lawyer to help them with litigation or court, and this varies from divorce to criminal defense to medical malpractice and bankruptcy, and more. In fact, a lawyer may be hired to help sue a different lawyer who committed malpractice. A lawyer who committed attorney malpractice didn’t just lose a case; they performed dishonestly or willfully neglected their client in the process. So, what might happen if a client hires legal representation for attorney or medical malpractice cases, and what about filing for bankruptcy?
Attorney Malpractice
It should be noted that while lawyers are legal experts who will defend their clients in court or litigation, no lawyer can guarantee success or a desirable outcome for their client. Sometimes, even skilled or well-prepared lawyers might lose a case, or the client doesn’t get what they want, and this is normal. It does not constitute malpractice. So what does? A lawyer may be found guilty of malpractice if they, for example, misuse their attorney fees for personal interests, or if they overcharge a client. Lawyer fees may often be hefty, but they should also be fair, and dishonest lawyers may try to exploit that. Attorney malpractice may also take the form of a lawyer accepting bribes or consorting too much with the opposition’s own lawyers, or perhaps the lawyer got sloppy and filed paperwork too late. For example, a negligent lawyer may file paperwork too late for a personal injury case, and the court’s judge will thus toss it out. It’s also possible for a lawyer to be genuinely apathetic or disinterested in their client’s case and fail to make a proper effort at all.
Dealing with such cases may involve hiring a new lawyer to sue the accused one, but take note that such litigation is not easy. The victim must prove somehow that their previous lawyer committed genuine malpractice that led to defeat during court or litigation, when the client should have won their case in normal circumstances. Typically, a client would win something in a successful case, and missing that payout is a factor in attorney malpractice cases.
Medical Malpractice
Medical professionals, such as surgeons and chiropractors, will do their best to treat a patient and give them proper medical care for full recovery, but some doctors may be impaired or careless on the job. Sometimes, a surgeon may get sloppy during work, or perhaps they are sleep-deprived or even under the influence of drugs or alcohol. In extreme cases, they know that they are being negligent to their patients, and simply don’t care. Any of this may result in a patient being in worse medical condition than before, with symptoms ranging from sore or stiff joints to losing their hearing or vision to partial paralysis or chronic pain in their muscles or bones. The victim may contact that medical professional and attempt to get further medical treatment to correct the mistake, but if this step does not work, then the patient may contact the proper medical licensing board and file a claim, if they must. Lawyers can help with whatever comes next.
Bankruptcy Filings
Small companies often go bankrupt, and when they do, they can hire bankruptcy lawyers to represent them in court with their creditor(s). Such lawyers will try to protect their clients from abuse or exploitation on the creditors’ part, and they may argue a case for the debtor company remaining DIP (debtor in possession) during the court case. Those bankruptcy lawyers can also help their clients come up with effective reorganization plans to partially or totally repay the outstanding debt, and when and if the creditors and court accept a proposed plan, it can be put into action. Such plans may involve downsizing, reorganizing, and partially or totally liquidating the debtor to repay the outstanding debt in part or in full. Sometimes, creditors must be content with a partial repayment when the debtor is totally dissolved.
