An attorney has a duty to you as a client to maintain communication with you and to keep you informed and updated about your case’s progress. Your attorney also should listen to your wishes and concerns and possibly implement them within the case strategy if it is valid, proper, lawful, and can lead to a positive outcome.
Not all client wishes are valid or should be incorporated into the approach to your case. An attorney must not follow a course of action that is unlawful or unethical. Or not likely to lead to the desired result. But your attorney should at least listen to your concerns, and if your attorney disagrees, provide you with the reasons why s/he is rejecting them.
In some cases, your attorney’s failure to listen to your wishes and concerns can result in a legal malpractice claim. In these cases, you or your legal malpractice attorney must prove the following elements to prevail:
- Your attorney owed you a duty of care
- The attorney breached his duty of care by ignoring your objectives or goals
- The breach of care owed to you by not listening to you significantly harmed your case or caused an adverse outcome
- The damages you suffered can be measured or sufficiently proved
When Ignoring a Client Leads to Malpractice
An attorney has an ethical obligation to communicate with you regularly and to respond to your inquiries. While your attorney is not obligated to immediately return your calls or emails, s/he should acknowledge your request and reply to you within a reasonable time. Often, a client’s inquiry can be answered by the attorney’s legal assistant or paralegal. But if the client wishes to talk to the attorney, then this request should be accepted and responded to by the attorney as soon as practicable.
Keep in mind that a client’s desires should always be considered, no matter how unreasonable they may seem at first. Even though the attorney possesses the necessary knowledge of the law and legal procedures required to pursue or defend a claim, a client can often offer valuable insights about their case that the attorney might overlook. For instance, a client might inform their attorney that the opposing party has a history of dishonesty or has discussed making a false claim solely to receive compensation. The client might also know typical or customary practices in the relevant industry that the attorney can use to question a party or witness and challenge their testimony or credibility. A client may have documents essential to the case that the attorney is ignoring or thinking that they are not needed without reviewing them. Another example is ignoring or disregarding the client’s desire for what to accept in a resolution but settling the case regardless and for an amount or outcome that the client never consented to.
If you feel that your attorney ignored you, settled a case without your consent, or took a case approach that was against your objectives or desires, then you should consult a legal malpractice attorney if you feel you were substantially harmed as a result.
Retain a Legal Malpractice Attorney from Burns and Jain
Being ignored by your attorney can not only irreparably harm the attorney-client relationship but cause you appreciable harm and damages. If this happened to you, call a legal malpractice attorney at Burns and Jain by dialing (617) 227-7423. We promise not to ignore your concerns and to fully advise you about your possible legal malpractice claim.