Legal Negligence

Professional Negligence in General

Professional malpractice is the name used for claims against any professional for work done in their professional capacity. These claims have different nuances depending upon the type of professional involved. Having an experienced attorney on your side is critical. Sumner Law has the experience you need to represent you in professinoal.

Professional Negligence in Oregon

Every negligence claim against a professional is made up of four elements:

1) Duty - There must be some legal responsibility to act on your behalf. This is usually created through a formal relationship with the professional.

2) Breach of the duty - The professional must have performed in a manner that was "below the standard of care for the community." An expert is usually required to testify as to the what the standard of care is for the community and how the conduct failed to meet that standard.

3) Causation - the breach of the duty has to be both a factual cause and a legal cause of . . .

4) Damage - the impact the error has had on you.

Legal Negligence

Legal negligence is the name for claims against an attorney, although in some instances breach of contract claims are also appropriate.

Duty

The "duty" element is defined by the scope of services agreed to be performed by the attorney. Lawyers are only responsible for those services that they have agreed to perform.

Breach

That duty is breached if the lawyer failed to meet the "standard of care for the community" for the services that he agreed to perform. This is established through expert testimony, where another lawyer testifies as to what the standard of care is for the community and how the defendant lawyer's conduct failed to meet that standard.

Causation

Once the duty is established and it is shown that the performance of that duty was below the standard of care, then it must be established that the breach of the duty was the cause of harm, or "causation." In the legal negligence context, this is known as the "case within the case." You must show that the result of the underlying litigation would have been different if the standard of care was met. In some cases, the entire underlying case must be tried to determine if the result would have been different.

Damages

Finally, the amount of harm, or "damages," must be established.

Attorney Ted Sumner and Sumner Law have experience with claims against other attorneys. Contact us for a confidential consultation on your potential case.

Medical Malpractice

There is a natural jury bias in favor of doctors because everyone wants to believe that they can trust their doctor. Because of this jury bias, it seldom makes sense for the client to pursue a claim unless there is a substantial, life altering, permanent injury. Please contact us for a confidential evaluation as to whether you have a claim we are willing to represent you on.

The information provided on this web site is offered for informational purposes only. It is not offered as legal advice and does not constitute legal advice. Sumner Law does not seek to represent you based upon your visit to or review of this web site. This web site may be considered advertising under the rules of Oregon and Washington. You should not make legal hiring decisions based upon brochures, advertising, or other promotional materials.

Copyright (c) 2009 Sumner Law, PC

Professional Negligence in General

Professional Negligence in Oregon

Nuances by Profession