#ATTORNEY MALPRACTICE IN FLORIDA—a recent #Ft. Lauderdale case that clients need to know about
When must you sue your #Florida attorney for malpractice if you’ve signed a settlement agreement for the case your #Florida attorney’s representing you in?
A very recent case from the #Florida appeals court for Broward County, Florida says the answer is: when the case reaches its outermost boundary of finality. What the heck does that mean?
#ALLEGATIONS OF #FLORIDA LEGAL MALPRACTICE IN #BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA
- A client hired a #Florida litigation law firm.
- The #Florida law firm was representing their client before a #Ft. Lauderdale trial court.
- In October, 2007 the #Ft. Lauderdale law firm stopped representing the #Florida client.
- About a year later, the #Florida client reached a settlement with all the parties to the #Broward County lawsuit.
- The #Ft. Lauderdale lawsuit ended with the parties signing a #Florida settlement agreement.
- In January, 2009, the #Fort Lauderdale trial court entered an #order of dismissal.
- No one filed an appeal.
WHEN MUST A #FLORIDA CLIENT SUE A #FLORIDA ATTORNEY FOR #LEGAL MALPRACTICE AFTER SIGNING A #FLORIDA SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ?
A #Florida lawsuit for #legal malpractice has a two-year statute of limitations.
A #Florida client must #sue a Florida law firm within two years that the cause of action accrued. In other words, the #Florida client must #sue a Florida lawyer for malpractice within two years of the malpractice.
WHEN DID THE #FLORIDA LEGAL MALPRACTICE OCCUR ?
When you handle #Florida legal malpractice cases, there are often two recurring issues:
- who has the legal ability, or #standing in a #Florida attorney malpractice lawsuit to file a claim ?
- when did the #Florida attorney malpractice actually occur ?
Or, as #Florida legal malpractice lawyers would say, when did the cause of action accrue ? Or,
Q: When does the #Florida statute of limitations for
#attorney malpractice begin to run ?
In this recent #Ft. Lauderdale attorney malpractice case, the Florida #Fourth District Court of Appeals held that the #Florida lawyer malpractice cause of action accrued when the trial court’s order dismissing the litigation became final — in January 2009.
The #Fort Lauderdale trial court’s order dismissing the malpractice case was reversed.
FOR REFERRAL SOURCES, LAWYERS AND LITIGATORS ONLY
We help you with Florida estate and trust administration and trials, and #probate appeals.
Our #Florida probate law firm
- does not prepare estate plans
- does not draft wills and trusts
- does not steal your clients or your probates
Our #West Palm Beach, Florida #probate litigation firm :
- hands your clients back to you at the conclusion of the #Florida matter—after all, they are YOUR clients
- we try cases & handle appeals
- our practice is restricted to #Florida probate disputes & contested guardianships
- we work with you on #Florida estate administration, #Florida probate
- we litigate for and protect beneficiary rights
- we represent #Florida personal representatives or executors, and #Florida trustees
- we receive approximately 95% of our clients from other lawyers
- we take contingency fee cases
Who are we? Our firm is comprised of
- serious Florida litigators, with an outstanding reputation in our legal community
- focused probate lawyers,
- experienced paralegals and support staff.
We have been involved in high profile, nine figure, multi-million-dollar #Florida estates, including Madoff matters, old # Palm Beach money and complex trusts and multi-party #Florida probates. We also handle “small” or “simple” matters. All we do is litigate and help you with #Florida estate and trust administration. #Tortious interference with an inheritance and allegations of #undue influence, and #will challenges and trust challenges are a unique subspecialty of the law. Does your client know which ones to file, when to do that, and why? Do you know the different ways to prove each case? How about quantifying or assessing damages? It would be our pleasure to work with you and to serve your clients. For a complete copy of this very recent legal opinion please email michelle@pankauskilawfirm.com.
John Pankauski, www.johnpankauski.com, is the author of The Trustee’s Book – An Individual’s Guide To Money, Misfits, Marriages, and Mismanagement, and the upcoming The $41 Trillion Inheritance War. He is an estate and trust litigator in West Palm Beach, Florida, www.pankauskilawfirm.com and has been featured on the CBS Evening News, in The Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, NBC, ABC and Fox networks.