Andrew Barovick

When a lawyer’s services fail to meet even the minimal standards of legal practice in your community, and this causes his client significant harm, that lawyer has likely committed legal malpractice.

Using the example above, the woman with breast cancer that was diagnosed late may feel that she has a medical malpractice case. She goes to see a lawyer who specializes in the field, and he or she confirms that there is a meritorious case.

Among the many things a good medical malpractice lawyer must keep in mind is what is known as the Statute of Limitations—a law that governs how much time a medical malpractice victim has to commence a lawsuit.

In New York, that time limit is two and a half years from the time of the malpractice. In this example, the lawyer retained by the woman who was not timely diagnosed with breast cancer commences the lawsuit, but fails to do it until after the time limit has run out. As a result, the woman can never bring the medical malpractice lawsuit that she had hoped to bring, and will therefore never see the financial award that would likely have accrued to her at the end of such a case.

The lawyer who let that deadline pass has committed legal malpractice, and under the law, he would be responsible for the financial award that his client lost through his neglect.