Edgar Law Firm LLC Trial Lawyers

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Statute of limitations and legal malpractice

On Behalf of | Jan 24, 2023 | Legal Malpractice

When filing a lawsuit, the statute of limitations is an incredibly important point to note. If an attorney fails to honor this time limit, it can cause major issues for the case.

Missing the statute of limitations is not fulfilling legal duties and is a common point for a legal malpractice claim.

Statute of limitations

The statute of limitations is a legal time limit. Almost every legal matter has one. The limit is strict for matters to which it applies. The statute of limitations varies for different legal matters. It is essential for an attorney to know and understand the time limit for the legal matter in which they are handling a case. Missing this deadline is classic negligence since it is something the attorney should know.

Once a case misses its time limit, a judge will throw it out. If the attorney tries to file after the deadline, the court simply will not hear the matter, and there is nothing the plaintiff can do about it, making it a serious mistake on the part of the attorney.

Malpractice

Legal malpractice is negligence on the part of an attorney that causes harm to the client. In the case of missing the statute of limitations, the harm is great. The client loses all legal ability to bring his or her case to court. Even though it was the attorney’s fault, the law is strict and a court will not allow the case to continue. The only recourse the client has is to go after the attorney for malpractice. This could allow the person to recover damages that he or she lost out due to the original case not going to court.