Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons^™

Legal Malpractice: The Profession's Dirty Little Secret, Manuel R. Ramos

Vanderbilt Law Review

Legal malpractice is a taboo subject. It has been ignored by the legal profession,' law schools, mandatory continuing legal education ("CLE") programs, and even by scholarly' and lay publications. Unfortunately, our perception of legal malpractice, up until now, has been highly distorted by secretive insurance companies, confidential settlement agreements, and a questionable American Bar Association ("ABA") Study. Nonetheless, sharply contrasting portraits of legal malpractice have emerged: either it is just a minor problem of "weeding out" a few "bad apples," or it is the tip of an "iceberg," ready to overwhelm the legal profession. The ABA Study has fostered the …