consult
X

Request a Free Consultation

Please fill out the form below and we will be in touch soon.

  • MM slash DD slash YYYY

Blog Home

Beyond Your Lawyer: Who Can Be Sued for Florida Legal Malpractice?
Posted By:

Beyond Your Lawyer: Who Can Be Sued for Florida Legal Malpractice?

 

When you select a lawyer, you are placing your faith in them as an experienced, knowledgeable professional. Depending on the specifics of your case, your freedom, future, and financial interests are likely to be at stake, and are dependent on your attorney’s competence. If he or she mishandles your case, the consequences could be dire.

 

Here’s the thing, though: it may not just be your lawyer that you need to worry about.

 

Generally speaking, legal malpractice occurs when your attorney breaches the duty of care he or she owed to you under the law. A legal malpractice claim can be made when they are negligent, or otherwise breach their fiduciary duty to you.

 

In most cases, it is your lawyer who will be held directly liable for legal malpractice. However, it is possible for others to be liable as well.

 

Who are the possible candidates?

 

Your Florida Attorney

 

As mentioned above, if your lawyer breaches the duty of care owed to you as a client by acting more carelessly than a reasonable attorney would have acted in the same situation, or by acting in a way that was not in accordance with your best interests, it may be possible to hold them liable for legal malpractice.

 

Your Florida Law Firm

 

In some cases, it may be possible to sue an entire law firm for legal malpractice. How does this work?

 

Law firms can be held accountable for legal malpractice under the doctrine of vicarious liability, which means that employers are responsible for their agents. Under vicarious liability, the law firm can be sued if one of its employees breaches a duty owed to you while acting within the scope of his or her employment. Importantly, a legal malpractice claim likely requires that at least one attorney in the firm is also being sued for malpractice.

 

When the law firm is sued for malpractice, both the firm and the attorneys can be held liable for damages. In some cases, each party is individually responsible for paying up to the total amount of damages awarded, while in other situations they would split the amount owed.

 

Paralegals in Florida

 

In most cases, paralegals operate under the employment of a law firm, so the employer would be held liable for any negligence on the part of paralegals under vicarious liability.

 

However, some paralegals perform legal services for the public without the supervision of an attorney. In fact, more and more paralegals are working directly for the public these days, which makes them responsible for the legal work they perform.

 

While these types of cases are currently rare, it is quite likely that malpractice claims made directly against paralegals will become more common in the future.

 

Paralegals can be sued for breaching their duty of care to you as a client, and potentially for unauthorized practice of law. This is because Florida prohibits paralegals from forming an attorney-client relationship and giving legal advice.

 

However, paralegals are able to give legal information, and determining the difference between advice and information can be tricky.

 

Fort Lauderdale Legal Malpractice Attorney

 

Complicated?

 

Absolutely. Suing a legal professional is never a simple matter.

 

However, if you are the victim of legal malpractice, you owe it to yourself to fight back and recover damages experienced due to their negligence.

 

 

 

About the Author:

 

Andrew Winston is a partner at the personal injury law firm of Winston Law. For over 20 years, he has successfully represented countless people in all kinds of personal injury cases, with a particular focus on child injury, legal malpractice, and premises liability. He has been recognized for excellence in the representation of injured clients by admission to the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, is AV Preeminent Rated by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, enjoys a 10.0 rating by AVVO as a Top Personal Injury Attorney, has been selected as a Florida “SuperLawyer” from 2011-2017 – an honor reserved for the top 5% of lawyers in the state – and was voted to Florida Trend’s ”Legal Elite” and as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Florida and one of the Top 100 Lawyers in the Miami area for 2015, 2016, and 2017.

Categories
AWARDS & MEMBERSHIPS

AWARDS & MEMBERSHIPS

SUPER LAWYERS

TOP RATED PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER IN DAVIE FL
2011-2023

Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.

AWARDS & MEMBERSHIPS

SUPER LAWYERS

FLORIDA TOP 100 LAWYERS
2015-2017, 2019-2023

Super Lawyers magazine features the list and profiles of selected attorneys and is distributed to attorneys in the state or region and the ABA-approved law school libraries.

AWARDS & MEMBERSHIPS

SUPER LAWYERS

MIAMI TOP 100 LAWYERS
2015-2017, 2019-2023

Super Lawyers magazine features the list and profiles of selected attorneys and is distributed to attorneys in the state or region and the ABA-approved law school libraries.

AWARDS & MEMBERSHIPS

FLORIDA TREND’S

FLORIDA LEGAL ELITE
2011-2023

Now in its 13th year, Florida Legal Elite presents a prestigious roster of attorneys chosen for recognition by their peers.

AWARDS & MEMBERSHIPS

MILLION DOLLAR ADVOCATES FORUM
LIFETIME MEMBER

THE TOP TRIAL LAWYERS IN AMERICA ®

ONE OF THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS GROUPS OF TRIAL LAWYERS IN THE UNITED STATES. MEMBERSHIP IS LIMITED TO ATTORNEYS WHO HAVE WON MILLION AND MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR VERDICTS AND SETTLEMENTS.

AWARDS & MEMBERSHIPS

EXPERTISE

BEST CAR ACCIDENT LAWYERS IN FORT LAUDERDALE
2016-2023

Our goal is to be a hub where qualified experts can connect with people to share their knowledge, experience, and skills.

AWARDS & MEMBERSHIPS

EXPERTISE

BEST PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEYS IN FORT LAUDERDALE
2016-2023

Our goal is to be a hub where qualified experts can connect with people to share their knowledge, experience, and skills.

AWARDS & MEMBERSHIPS

MARTINDALE-HUBBELL AV PREEMINENT

AV PREEMINENT
2016-2022

For more than 130 years, Martindale-Hubbell has been evaluating attorneys for their strong legal ability and high ethical standards through a Peer Review Rating system. Prior to the 1887 edition of Martindale’s American Law Directory, which was the first publication to provide such ratings to attorneys, there was no way of truly knowing if the lawyer you were considering to do business with was trustworthy, ethical, or skilled in the legal field.

AWARDS & MEMBERSHIPS

AMERICAS TOP 100 HIGH STAKES LITIGATORS

2018-2023

Selection to America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators® is by invitation only and is comprised of the nation’s most exceptional trial lawyers for high stakes legal matters. For initial consideration, an attorney must have successfully litigated (for either plaintiff or defendant) a matter (1) with at least $2,000,000 in alleged damages at stake or (2) with the fate of a business worth at least $2,000,000 at stake (i.e. bet-the-company litigation valued in excess of $2,000,000).

AWARDS & MEMBERSHIPS

LAWYERS OF DISTINCTION

LAWYERS OF
DISTINCTION

Lawyers of Distinction members have been selected based upon a review and vetting process from our Selection Committee. After a thorough review of credentials, attorneys are nominated by our Selection Committee. Lawyers do not pay for this nomination. These potential candidates who meet the criteria of our screening process have demonstrated a high degree of peer recognition and professional competence

AWARDS & MEMBERSHIPS

AVVO

TOP ATTORNEY PERSONAL INJURY
10.00
SUPERB

Avvo was founded in Seattle, Washington by tech-savvy lawyer Mark Britton to make legal easier and help people find a lawyer.

AWARDS & MEMBERSHIPS

LEAD COUNSEL

LEAD COUNSEL
RATED

Since 1997, the Lead Counsel Rating has been available for free to attorneys who have demonstrated the following three requirements:

Professional Experience
Peer Recommendations
Spotless Record

REVIEWS

LEAVE US A REVIEW

CASE RESULTS

See More Results