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Legal Malpractice: When The Legal System Turns On The Lawyer Third Annual Symposium On Legal Malpractice & Professional Responsibility: Essay., Jennifer Knauth
Legal Malpractice: When The Legal System Turns On The Lawyer Third Annual Symposium On Legal Malpractice & Professional Responsibility: Essay., Jennifer Knauth
St. Mary's Law Journal
What happens when a lawyer becomes a defendant in a legal malpractice case? Much has been written about the shortcomings of the adversary system as measured against its theoretical goals and assumptions. One significant assumption underlying the adversary system is that there is an equal playing field among litigants. The reality of a legal malpractice case is at odds with this ideal. The prevailing cultural bias against lawyers as gatekeepers and beneficiaries of the legal system permeates every aspect of a legal malpractice case. One effect of this cultural bias is the lawyer-defendant's very personal and disproportionate experience with the …
Lawyers' Negligence Liability To Non-Clients: A Texas Viewpoint., Brian J. Davis
Lawyers' Negligence Liability To Non-Clients: A Texas Viewpoint., Brian J. Davis
St. Mary's Law Journal
Courts should examine the relationship of a non-client to a negligent lawyer to determine whether a lawyer is liable to a non-client despite lack of privity. In most jurisdictions, attorneys enjoy the privity of contract requirement which limits their duty to exercise reasonable care. As a result, lawyers are normally immune to negligent malpractice actions brought by non-clients. Courts should examine the relationship between the attorney and the non-client to determine whether the requirement of privity is an overly restrictive limit on the lawyer’s scope of duty. These relationships can be classified into three categories. The first category involves plaintiffs …