Q: Can I sue my attorney for legal malpractice?
My attorney emailed "I got official word court is cancelled." But he was wrong and we didn't show up for my final custody/divorce hearing. A hearing to ask for a reconsideration followed and judge denied it and stood by the order determined on the date I missed court. Judge said it was because my lawyer did not make any effort the day of court to see if court was still on. Is this enough grounds to win a case if I sued for legal malpractice? I spent over $20grand leading up to this case. I never got to say my side of the story to the judge. I have not been reimbursed or offered reimbursement. Should I contact a malpractice lawyer or is there not enough to prove "negligence" on my lawyer and his law firm.
My children's dad was abusive and lied multiple times under oath and I was fully prepared with evidence to support this. My daughters (5&4) did not get a "for their best interest" determination due to my lawyers actions.
A:
In this case, a malpractice case is not your best option. While you should contact an experienced family law attorney in order to try to fix the case, you should try to get some fees back from the attorney with fee arbitration. Assuming the facts are as you state, you should be able to get some fees back from the attorney so you can hire another attorney to try to rectify the situation. However, if you have already had a Motion for Reconsideration fail, your only option is an appeal, and there is a strict time limit so you have to act fast. The link for fee arbitration is below. (you will have to cut and paste the link.)
https://www.gabar.org/committeesprogramssections/programs/feearbitration.cfm
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Regina I. Edwards is the Owner of Edwards Family Law. Ms. Edwards has been practicing law since 2001. She has been voted by her peers a Georgia Super Lawyers Rising Star in Family Law for 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017.
www.EdwardsFamilyLaw.com
404.238.7808
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