When ever you have a legal problem, you should try to look for the best attorney that will fill all of your requirements so that you may obtain the results you are looking for. Unfortunately, this result doesnt always happen. A Lawyer's first commitment should be to be honest, acting with integrity, in all fairness and in good faith in all dealings with, or on behalf of their clients. Sometimes, a lawyer's misconduct and failure to use adequate levels of care, skill or diligence in the performance of their duties, can cause harm to others. This is a good definition of legal malpractice.
Legal malpractice may be caused for multiple reasons, but mostly because of a conflict of interests between the attorney and his/her client. This may or may not include: a failure to provide a valid fee agreement, a failure to inform about any modification on that fee, or a failure to file the claim within the statute of limitations. When you follow a legal malpractice process, you must prove that malpractice occurred and because of it you did not win a favorable judgment in your case. Moreover, the attorney you hire to file the legal malpractice claim must argue both cases: the "underlying case" (the original one), showing that you won, and the one you are just claiming.
Studies have shown the number of legal related malpractice cases has been increasing at an alarming rate. This rate is even greater than the growth of the legal industry. Some of the reasons for these statistics may be the existence of better educated client's with higher expectations who are more aware of the steps taken to follow their litigation. Remember that attorneys have serious ethical and legal obligations to their clients. They are required to exercise the "utmost care" and treat the interests of the client as if they were their own.
There are various common types of legal malpractice: contract, which is the result of the lawyer failing to honor the contract you both signed, negligence, which is when the attorney conducts an unacceptable legal work that caused you financial damage, breach of ethics which is when the lawyer fails to accomplish his compromise of loyalty and fidelity, and last but not least, Fraud which is an intentional deceptive conduct that causes financial harm, and criminal acts, such as theft and embezzlement.
Remember that an attorney's first duty is to practice a "fiduciary duty". This means they are to protect their client's interests over anything else. As a client, you are paying for a top class service and you expect the best attention and loyalty from the person you trust in the certain situation. Do not hesitate about claiming what is legally your right.