My attorney mishandled funds that I entrusted to him. Is that legal malpractice?

Your attorney owes you a very high duty under the law, referred to as a fiduciary duty. If your lawyer in any way breaches his legal duty to you, he can be subject to professional discipline. You may also be able to file a civil suit for professional malpractice on the basis of his behavior. Mishandling funds is a clear breach of the duty that he owes to you. Such an action is forbidden by the Rules of Professional Responsibility that govern lawyers. Your attorney can be responsible for any monetary damages you incurred as a result of his carelessness or intentional misuse of funds. 

Legal Malpractice

Legal malpractice is a civil suit governed under tort law. There are several required elements to your case that you will need to prove if you want to hold your lawyer liable for professional malpractice:

• You need to prove there was a breach of duty. Any sort of mishandling of funds should easily fall within this category. Simply provide evidence of the misuse, such as details about how he spent the money, mingled it with his own, was unreasonably careless with it, or took any actions that were not in your best interest.
• You will also need to prove the type and extent of damages you suffered. For example, if your lawyer took $10,000 from you, you suffered $10,000 in damages. If your lawyer was unreasonably careless and invested your $100,000 trust assets in a speculative pyramid scheme and you lost it all, then your damages are $100,000. Provide any details about the money you lost, so the court will know just how much to award you in compensation.

Getting Help

A legal malpractice suit is not something you want to handle on your own. You will need a lawyer who specializes in professional malpractice so you can make sure that you recover the full extent of the damages you deserve as a result of your lawyer's betrayal.