Liability of your lawyer | Legal aid centre

Questioner

Early 2011, my lawyer failed to file an appeal in time at the Administrative Court (it was allegedly not posted in time). The Administrative Court declared the case inadmissible because the documents were submitted too late by my lawyer. As a result, the case must be considered lost. What can I do myself?

Lawyer

contact the lawyer and hold him liable. He will send your claim to the professional liability insurer and they will often resolve this.

Lawyer

If the lawyer has indeed let a term expire, he is liable for the damage, but... the question is what would have happened if he had been on time. That is an estimate of good and bad chances that is expressed in percentages. The next question is what, expressed in money, would have been the difference for you between a good and a bad outcome. In short, in a difficult case, holding the lawyer liable is less useful. If the financial interest is limited, the same applies. If it was a promising case with a considerable financial interest, then you can hold the lawyer liable. In that case, I would definitely hire a lawyer. My own guideline is that I only take on a case if I am convinced that the lawyer has made a mistake and that real damage has been caused.