Q: I need a lawyer to represent me suing my family attroney for malpractice

A: You need to look for a competent attorney in or near the county where the hearing was held experienced in the area of legal malpractice. I often handle cases of this nature. My rate of $500 per hour is reasonable and customary in the North Texas area, and if the amount of damages caused by your lawyer's alleged malpractice is $250,000 or less, I routinely only require a small initial retainer of $5,000.

It will be important for your case to show that you were current in paying your previous attorney's fees and that the family court did not grant a motion to withdraw filed by your previous attorney for "good cause." The most common reason for an attorney to withdraw--if that is what happened--is non-payment of legal fees by the client. It is well-settled that non-payment constitutes good cause for an attorney to withdraw. It is not the only reason, but it is a common reason.

In order to prove damages caused by the attorney abandoning you, you will have to show that, if the attorney had not abandoned you right before the hearing, you would have won the hearing. What you would have won is how any damages are measured in a legal malpractice case. Sometimes, this involved relitigating the underlying family law litigation using the same admissible evidence that was available to the previous attorney at the time of the previous hearing.

A: Since you're seeking an attorney, you could supplement your searches with the tab above, "Find a Lawyer," which lists attorneys by region and area of practice. There are also state and local bar associations. Good luck