Professional Negligence
When we hire professionals, we expect professionalism! And we certainly don’t expect to get hurt. Professional negligence – failure to perform responsibilities to the standards expected of someone in that profession –– can indeed cause harm or loss. If you’ve been harmed by someone’s professional negligence, they may be liable to you for that harm or loss.
Key Elements of Professional Negligence
How do you know whether a professional’s actions can be considered negligence? Here are the key factors that need to have occurred to meet that definition:
- Duty of Care – The professional owed a duty to the client
- Breach of Duty – The professional failed to meet the standard of care expected in their field
- Causation – The breach directly caused harm or loss
- Damages – The client suffered actual loss or damage as a result
Examples of Professional Negligence:
- An accountant giving incorrect tax advice, which leads to financial penalties for the client
- A lawyer missing a filing deadline, causing a case to be dismissed
- An architect designing a structurally unsound building
- An insurance agent failing to bind the coverage a client paid for on their auto or homeowners’ policy
- A pharmacist filling the wrong medication in a prescription bottle
I have extensive experience successfully litigating professional negligence cases, including legal malpractice cases.
You may understand how you have been harmed. But you need an attorney experienced at discerning the legal recourse you may have at your disposal in order to prove negligence.
Time is of the essence in many of these cases. If you believe that a professional failed to perform their responsibilities to the standard expected of someone in their profession, please contact me today to discuss your case.
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