Lawyers make mistakes, too. Your attorney may have missed a deadline (such as a statute of limitations) that resulted in your case being dismissed. Or your attorney may have made other mistakes that resulted in a bad outcome for you. If a lawyer's representation of you departed from the accepted standard of care for lawyers, and this departure (error) caused you to suffer damages, you may have a legal malpractice claim against your lawyer. Michaels & Smolak is one of very few law firms in its region with significant experience handling legal malpractice cases. Please contact us for a free consultation with an experienced legal malpractice lawyer who can inform you of your legal rights and maximize your compensation. If you want to know more about legal malpractice cases, read below.

When an attorney makes a mistake in handling a case or transaction, for example, missing important deadlines, the client may bring a malpractice claim against the attorney. The most common legal malpractice claims include: missed statute of limitations in filing claim or suit, other missed deadlines, conflict of interest, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, violation of attorney–client privilege, accounting errors, transactional errors, billing fraud or other deception, and just plain "incompetence". Michaels & Smolak is one of the only firms in our geographic area that handles a significant amount of legal negligence claims. Please contact us to discuss your legal malpractice case.

What Is the Statute of Limitations for Legal Malpractice Claims in New York?

Generally, 3 years from the date of you were malpracticed. However, there are exceptions. For example, if the victim is a child under 18 years old, his or her statute of limitations does not even start to run until he or she is 18, so normally it would expire on his or her 21st birthday. Further, if the lawyer who malpracticed your case continued to represent you on the same matter after he made his mistake, the statute of limitations is "tolled" (meaning it does not start to run) until the last day he represents you on that same matter. There are exceptions that may apply to your case. Contact us to discuss your statutes of limitations.

What if I can't afford an attorney?

That's impossible. A reputable legal malpractice attorney will not charge you for an initial consultation. Michaels & Smolak will give you a free consultation. If we decide to represent you, we will charge you on a contingency fee basis, which is usually 1/3 of the net recovery we obtain for you, whether from a settlement or from a jury. Since the initial consultation is free, why wait? So contact us today for a free consultation.

Michaels & Smolak has recovered millions of dollars for clients damaged by legal malpractice. Contact us for a free consultation with an experienced lawyer who can inform you of your legal rights and maximize your compensation.