Florida Legal Malpractice Attorneys

When you hire a lawyer, you expect that your case will be handled competently and diligently by your attorney. Most attorneys work hard for their clients and provide effective representation. Unfortunately, as with most things in life, there are exceptions to the rule. Mistakes happen. And when those mistakes cause the client to lose their case or recover less money than they otherwise should have, there could be the possibility of a legal malpractice claim against the lawyer who made the error.

Our attorneys at Law Offices Cytryn & Velazquez, P.A. represent clients throughout Florida. If you believe your attorney may have committed legal malpractice, call our office at (954) 833-1440 for a free consultation.

What Is Legal Malpractice?

Not every mistake a lawyer makes is legal malpractice. An error in judgment typically won’t constitute malpractice when reasonable attorneys can differ under the same circumstances.

In Florida, for legal malpractice to occur, there has to be:

1. An attorney-client relationship between the parties concerning the specific representation at issue. The attorney has to have been employed to provide the client with legal services for the particular issue in question. 
2. The attorney must have neglected a legal duty owed to the client. Attorneys must exercise the level of care and skill expected of a reasonably competent attorney. The question isn’t simply whether another attorney would have handled the matter differently or better than your attorney (reasonable attorneys may disagree on all sorts of things – as the saying goes, two attorneys, three opinions). Rather, the question here is whether your attorney’s conduct fell below the appropriate standard of care of a reasonably competent attorney under the circumstances.
3. The attorney’s neglect of a reasonable duty owed to their client was a proximate cause of loss to their client. In other words, the attorney’s negligence must have caused you some type of harm (typically, this would refer to financial harm).

If your situation meets all three prongs above, then you might have a viable legal malpractice claim against your lawyer. 

Some examples of possible legal malpractice include:

Missing the statute of limitations.

• If the attorney misses the statute of limitations, this is usually the end of the road for your case. With relatively few exceptions, you will be forever barred from pursuing your case if it’s not filed before the statute of limitations.
• This is one of the more common occurrences of malpractice in Florida. Part of the problem nowadays is the Florida legislature’s tort reforms enacted in 2023. Before that time, the statute of limitations for most negligence cases was four years. But now, the statute of limitations for most negligence cases is two years. Some attorneys have failed to internalize this change, and they are likely missing the statute of limitations in some of their negligence cases as a result.

Failing to sue the proper parties.

• This is another situation where the 2023 tort reform change to the statute of limitations is important. Attorneys used to have four years to investigate a case and determine who were the responsible parties that needed to be sued. Now, attorneys only have two years to conduct this investigation. 

Missing critical court deadlines.

• In the last few years, judges throughout Florida have been imposing strict deadlines for the cases in their respective divisions. Sometimes the judges are willing to excuse missed deadlines, but other times (and much more frequently now than in the past) judges are unwilling to give attorneys some leeway when they miss a deadline. If you miss the deadline for, let’s just say for example, disclosing your expert witnesses, it’s possible that the judge will not give you an opportunity to belatedly disclose the experts. In that case, you could be forced to go to trial without being able to call any of your expert witnesses as a result of missing the deadline for disclosure.

Failing to adequately investigate and prepare a case for trial.

• Attorneys have a duty to diligently and competently handle their clients’ cases from the day they begin representing the client and all the way through trial (and oftentimes after that). Failing to do so may, in some situations, constitute legal malpractice.

Negligently advising a client regarding settlement.

• In some cases, a lawyer will not adequately investigate and learn the full extent of available insurance coverage. For example, the client might be very seriously injured in a Broward car crash. The lawyer believes that the driver of the other car only had $10,000 of insurance coverage, so the lawyer advises the client to settle for the $10,000. The client follows the lawyer’s advice and settles for the $10,000. But it turns out that the other driver actually had another insurance policy with $100,000 of insurance coverage. If the settlement precludes the client from pursuing the claim any further, the lawyer may have committed malpractice. 

Conflicts of interest that harm the client.

• Lawyers owe a duty of loyalty to their clients. Nonetheless, sometimes lawyers represent a client when the client’s interests are at odds with the attorney’s interests, or the client’s interests are at odds with another of the attorney’s clients. If that conflict ultimately leads to harm to a client, there may be a case of malpractice. 

Of course, not every mistake constitutes legal malpractice. Lawyers are not expected to be perfect. Just because a lawyer loses a case doesn’t mean they committed malpractice. The issues you need to consider are whether the attorney acted negligently (i.e., did the attorney breach the professional standard of care that was owed to the client), and if yes, whether that negligence caused the client some type of harm or less.

Our firm handles legal malpractice cases in Broward, Palm Beach, and throughout all of Florida. If you feel that your attorney made some error that caused you harm, contact our office for a free consultation.

A "Case Within a Case"

Legal malpractice claims are often described as a "trial within a trial" or “a case within a case.” That basically means it’s not enough to simply prove that your lawyer made a mistake. You must also prove that, if the lawyer had handled the matter properly (meaning, had the lawyer not been negligent), you would have obtained a better result. And you’ll have to prove what that result would (or should) have been.

For example, if an attorney failed to file a personal injury lawsuit before the statute of limitations expired, you’ll have to prove 1) that the underlying injury case would have been successful, and 2) you have to establish the value of your damages.

These cases can be complex because they require the jury to evaluate both the attorney's conduct and the merits of the original case where the attorney made the error.

How Our Attorneys Evaluate Legal Malpractice Claims 

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to evaluating legal malpractice claims. We have to look at the situation as a whole. 

• What was the attorney retained to do? 
• What would a reasonably competent attorney have done under the circumstances?
• What did the attorney fail to do? 
• Why did the attorney fail to do it? 

These are just a few of the basic, important questions we try to answer when evaluating Florida legal malpractice claims. 

Speaking very generally, if we think there might be a viable malpractice claim and we think it’s worth investigating further, we typically review as much documentation as we can, such as:

• Court filings (complaint, answers, motions, etc.).
• Discovery requests and responses (requests to produce, requests for admissions, and interrogatories).
• Deposition transcripts.
• Expert witness testimony.
• Applicable statutes and case law.
• Communications between the attorney and the client.

These are just some of the things we would ordinarily review in a malpractice case. At the end of the day, each case is different and each case requires its own unique approach.

Damages Caused by Malpractice

One of the most important questions in a legal malpractice case is “What are the damages?”

Even when legal malpractice has occurred, an important practical consideration is how serious are the damages caused by the malpractice? Think of it this way. Let’s say you were seriously injured in a Coral Springs car accident and your damages (your bodily injury, pain and suffering, etc.) are worth approximately $100,000, and your attorney failed to file the lawsuit before the statute of limitations ran. In that case, your damages caused by your attorney’s malpractice in failing to file the lawsuit on time are approximately $100,000. That type of case could be worth pursuing since the damages are significant.

On the other hand, let’s say you were involved in a car crash, but you weren’t injured too badly. Maybe you sprained your wrist in the collision, but you felt all better a few days later. Your damages probably aren’t worth too much in that instance, maybe $1,000 or something like that. Even if your attorney fails to file the lawsuit before the statute of limitations runs, the damages caused by your attorney’s malpractice are only going to be around $1,000. That type of case, with such a relatively low amount of damages, usually would not be worth pursuing. 

Sources of Recovery

Another important thing to take into consideration is whether there is a realistic source of recovery. In other words, if there was malpractice that caused you a substantial amount of damages, can the attorney afford to pay those damages? Does the attorney carry malpractice insurance to cover the loss?

Many attorneys maintain professional liability (i.e., malpractice) insurance. But many doesn’t mean all. In cases where the attorney doesn’t have malpractice insurance, any potential recovery may be dependent upon the financial resources of the attorney and his law firm.

Unfortunately, there are going to be times when the attorney’s malpractice causes substantial damages, but the attorney does not have sufficient malpractice insurance or other resources to cover the loss. 

Why Experience Matters

Legal malpractice litigation is unlike most other civil cases. It requires an understanding of both the underlying area of law (for example, if your case involves a car crash, the attorney handling the malpractice claim has to have a strong knowledge of personal injury law) and the standards governing attorney conduct (i.e., malpractice law).

Our attorneys have extensive experience handling complicated legal matters. Managing Attorney Dan Cytryn is a board-certified civil trial lawyer who has over 40 years of experience handling complex civil litigation cases in Florida. 

Our firm has successfully handled legal malpractice litigation, including recovering compensation after the attorney failed to timely file a lawsuit before the statute of limitations expired.

We understand how these cases must be investigated, evaluated, and presented to a jury.

Frequently Asked Questions about Legal Malpractice in Florida

If my lawyer committed malpractice, will I have to sue the lawyer in order to recover something for the malpractice?

• Sometimes yes, sometimes no. It all depends on the circumstances. Some lawyers are willing to acknowledge that they made a mistake and want to try and resolve malpractice claims before they get to the point of a lawsuit. Other lawyers (or their malpractice insurance companies) may be unwilling to settle the case outside of court.

How do I know if I have a legal malpractice case?

• There’s no easy, universal answer to this question. Obviously, everybody’s case is different. With that said, can you think of something your attorney did that you know is wrong? Do you know if your attorney missed a specific deadline? Did the attorney fail to file your case on time? These are just a few of the questions you should ask yourself. If you think your attorney may have committed malpractice, call our office for a free consultation to discuss what happened with your case.

I lost my case. So, can I sue my lawyer now?

• Not necessarily. A bad outcome doesn’t automatically equate to malpractice. Simply losing a case isn’t malpractice. Lawyers lose cases all the time despite providing competent representation to their clients. 

How much time do I have to file my legal malpractice case?         

• Generally, there’s a 2-year statute of limitations. That period runs starting from the time the cause of action is discovered or should have been discovered with the exercise of due diligence.

Does our office handle legal malpractice claims only in Florida?

• Yes, we only handle legal malpractice cases in Florida. We handle civil litigation cases in Miami, Broward, Palm Beach, and all throughout Florida.

Is there a specific dollar amount that a case has to be worth in order for our office to handle the claim?

• We don’t have any specific, minimum dollar threshold for a malpractice case. With that said, if the amount of your damages is only a few thousand dollars, that’s not the type of case we would ordinarily handle. Usually, your damages would have to be more substantial in order for us to take on your case.

Contact Us

If you believe your attorney was negligent and committed malpractice while handling your case, call our office today at (954) 833-1440 for a free consultation. We would be happy to review the circumstances of your case and discuss your options.