Legal clients can sue their lawyers (or former lawyers) if the lawyer’s actions harm their cases through misconduct or negligence. This negligence might include a lawyer who misses court dates and fails to appear at hearings.
Victims who have lost their cases and had to forfeit potential awards due to a lawyer’s mistakes can seek compensation. Clients would seek reimbursement for the money they’ve paid for legal representation. They should also be compensated for the potential value of the case that was lost.
Melrose Law stands up for victims in North Carolina when the negligence of their own lawyers has cost them their cases and their chance at recovery. Contact a real lawyer for a free case review to go over your options and find out how to hold your former attorney fully liable for missing important court dates.
Taking Action After Your North Carolina Attorney Misses a Court Date
Your lawyer works for you and has a duty to protect your legal interests. But lawyers who miss a court date or multiple dates can do the opposite. Their actions might harm your status with the court and lead to a failed case.
Your lawyer can miss critical court dates, damaging your chances to defend yourself or to collect compensation for an accident. You may show up to a hearing and be stood up by your lawyer. This and other careless behavior can be considered legal malpractice. It’s okay if a lawyer hurts their own reputation and career, but clients should never have to suffer harm to their cases.
Victims can fire their lawyers and seek restitution. However, there are a few more immediate steps clients should take if their lawyers fail to show for a court date:
- Reach out to your attorney immediately. Go by the law firm if necessary. A judge or a court administrator may also try to track down the attorney.
- Contact a court clerk. The clerk may be able to track down a scheduling mistake or tell you if your lawyer filed a motion to continue without telling you.
- Explain your situation to the judge. Make sure the court knows that you showed up.
- Make sure the judge doesn’t file a bench warrant seeking your whereabouts.
- Ask if your case can be rescheduled.
- Ask the court to file a motion to compel to force your attorney to show up.
This unfortunate situation would be a good reminder to always document your interactions with your attorney. Take notes and jot down times and dates. These notes could be used as evidence to prove a lawyer failed in their duty.
How Do I File a Complaint Against My Lawyer with the NC State Bar Association?
It’s a good idea to try to talk to your lawyer and find out what’s been causing the communication breakdown and mishandling of your case. If you can sort it out in a meeting, it’s probably for the best. If the attorney can continue on with your case without missing any more hearings, you might avoid a lot of headaches.
However, in some cases, you may decide to report a lawyer to the NC State Bar Association and let the organization handle it. Before filing an official complaint, victims can try working with the state bar’s attorney-client assistance program. You’d offer up your side of the story to a public liaison, then the liaison would reach out to the lawyer and try to get an explanation and perhaps land on a solution.
For an official complaint, clients would file an official grievance with the NC State Bar. Bar investigators would delve into the lawyer’s behavior and could issue reprimands and suspensions of their legal license.
However, State Bar Associations generally don’t award victims anything for the case that’s been mishandled, and the potential award or compensation the client has lost. Clients would need to file a lawsuit and show the damage a lawyer’s actions have done to their cases and criminal defense.
Melrose Law’s North Carolina Legal Malpractice Lawyers want to help guide victims through this complex process and hold a negligent lawyer fully responsible for all losses.
What You Can Do If a North Carolina Lawyer Mishandles Client Funds
Filing a Lawsuit And Collecting Damages After Your Lawyer Fails to Appear in Court
An attorney promises to earn justice for you and protect you from legal attacks. But that’s hard to do when they don’t bother to show up for a hearing or trial.
Their actions can damage your personal injury case and delay the compensation you’ve been waiting for to have a chance at a full recovery. A negligent lawyer might also wipe out your chances to ever seek justice and earn a cent to help pay your medical bills.
If you are facing criminal charges, a lawyer who can’t show for hearings could hurt your bid to prove your innocence.
Every damage that a negligent attorney had a hand in should be included. At Melrose Law, we make sure no damage or hardship is left out of a lawsuit or civil claim.
Our attorneys would be fighting for these and other benefits for our clients:
- The financial loss involving the difference between the expected settlement or judgment in a case and what was actually awarded (or not awarded) due to the lawyer’s missteps.
- Any money or fees the client provided for the case that was mishandled. This includes the fee to retain an attorney.
- Victims can receive support for the additional emotional trauma caused by a failed cause and battle with an attorney. Accident victims can be made to suffer if they must wait for compensation to pay their hospital bills or replace the income they’ve lost while they can’t work. The victim of fraud have faced stress while they wait for their money to be returned so they can support their families.
- Punitive damages. In some cases, a judge can tack on additional penalties to a judgment simply to further punish a lawyer. This additional financial penalty is meant to deter any future thought of neglecting clients and acting against their best interests. However, the victim still receives the fees paid and benefits from any punitive damages.
How Can a Melrose Law Legal Malpractice Lawyer Help Me Earn Justice
To win these benefits for you, Melrose Law would fully investigate the lawyer’s actions. We could hire legal experts to testify to the careless actions of your attorney and the damages they caused to your case.
In some instances, we recreate a claim to show the support the client might have won if the case had been handled properly. We represent you before judges and juries to make sure they know how much your wasted time and devalued case have cost you and your loved ones.
We will go to the lengths necessary to make sure you emerge from this unfair experience with the compensation you require to rebuild your life.
Contact a North Carolina Legal Malpractice Lawyer Today
Reach out to us for a free consultation. It’s a confidential opportunity to speak to a real North Carolina Legal Malpractice Attorney. A lawyer can help you determine whether you should file a lawsuit against a former attorney who didn’t show up to represent your case in court. There’s no obligation, and this meeting is completely confidential. We represent clients in the Asheville area and across North Carolina.
You should also know that after having your money and your case ripped from you, we don’t expect you to be able to afford to hire a lawyer. It’s why you don’t pay us unless we win your case for you. Melrose Law works on a contingency basis. It means if we lose your case, we don’t earn anything. If you win, our fee comes out of the money your former lawyer is forced to pay back to you and your family.
