Importance Of Expert Testimony In A Legal Malpractice Case
September 14, 2020
Indisputably, there are no other cases where an expert opinion is mostly required than in legal malpractice cases. As a plaintiff, one is supposed to show that indeed they would have won their case except for the negligent attorney. Expert opinion in a legal malpractice case helps determine the fact in issue or helps the jury understand the evidence provided. A right expert will help argue out about your lawyer’s conduct and prove that the mistakes conducted were so egregious. With the best malpractice lawyer in Memphis TN, you can have a clear understanding of what to expect in your legal malpractice case.
Why Expert’s Opinion Is Needed
To prevail in any legal malpractice case, you need to prove that there was an attorney-client relationship, that there was a breach, and the breach caused your injuries. It’s always advisable to have an expert opinion in any legal malpractice case to define the applicable standard of care. Generally, two steps must be obtained:
- The standard of care is needed from the defendant as of other practitioners given the same circumstances.
- Provide a fact-finder on why the defendant’s actions failed to meet the standard of care.
Legal malpractice always involves negligence, and sometimes jurors are unfamiliar with the many strategies or procedures that may be involved. The fact is they cannot be expected to know everything that pertains to the demands of proper legal representation. An example is where negligence stems from a specialized field of legal practice. As such, they require the expert testimony to:
- Understand and make the right decisions in the duty owed to the client by the lawyer.
- Know how the duty of care has been breached
- Have a valid conclusion as to whether the duty of breach led to client’s harm
To determine how useful a legal expert will be in any legal malpractice, the court determines:
- The expert’s methods used and how well they are established
- The expert’s qualification: The expert must have practiced in the same field as the lawyer in question. For instance, a lawyer who practices divorce cases cannot make a good expert in personal injury cases.
If you believe you would have achieved more favorable results than the ones obtained, then you cannot afford to lack an expert give their opinion as to what could have been achieved were is not for the negligence actions.
What Difference Will An Expert Make In A Legal Malpractice Case?
Most of the legal malpractice cases involve technical issues. Thus the court may require an expert opinion to come up with the right decision. If you have an expert in your legal malpractice case, you can be assured that they will provide the jury’s relevant evidence to give them the right guidance for determining the damages to be awarded. A good expert will craft the right questions to show that the standard of care was neglected and carefully analyze your underlying litigation issues. Additionally, an expert will offer an opinion about how the results would be if the lawyer had not been negligent.
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