Written by My Collaborative Team President Edward S. Sachs

On Monday, Eric posted his blog on What Keeps Clients Up at Night.  Now it is my turn to talk about what keeps Professionals Up at Night!

Professionals often spend sleepless nights concerned about whether they have handled their clients and their cases in a professional manner.  The dirtiest word you can mention to a professional is malpractice.  We have been fortunate in the Collaborative world not to see or hear of many, if any, malpractice cases against Collaborative Professionals.

This past Thursday, on the My Collaborative Team Happy Hour, we learned of two malpractice matters in the Chicagoland area and another one in Alberta, Canada against attorneys.  What we learned is that in all matters the question raised was whether the attorney provided their client with a duty of care.

A lawyer’s duty of care to a client is a core part of the legal profession. It means the lawyer must act with the level of competence, diligence, and skill that a reasonably qualified lawyer would provide in similar circumstances.

Lawyers must know the relevant law or be able to learn it quickly, apply legal knowledge accurately and avoid careless mistakes

If a lawyer takes on a matter they aren’t qualified for and mishandles it, that can breach their duty of care.  Interestingly the lawyers in all three cases were seasoned Collaborative attorneys.

They are expected to act in a timely manner, meet deadlines and not neglect the client’s case.

Lawyers must keep clients reasonably informed, explain legal options and risks clearly and respond to client inquiries in a reasonable timeframe

The duty of care is usually judged against a “reasonable lawyer” standard—what a competent attorney would have done under similar circumstances.

In the Canadian matter the Court found the attorney negligent in not providing the client with a full understanding of and the implications of the settlement that was reached.  Further, the Court found that there was poor communication between Counsel and Client.

As was explained to us at Happy Hour the Chicago area matters either settled or are still pending.  It seemed as if those matters were somewhat dubious.  The expert attorney for the Plaintiff in one matter did not have any Collaborative training or knowledge.

Let’s not forget our responsibilities and we will sleep better at night!