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Legal Malpractice - A Challenging FieldA Legal Malpractice Lawyer is considered a specialty in the law profession because it will take extensive knowledge and experience to confront the issues involved in legal malpractice. Legal Malpractice Lawyers that represent the interests of their clients may occasionally meet up against former colleagues in the courtroom in order to prove their negligence or misconduct in the handling of their former client’s case. This can be very stressful, so a strong sense of justice and minimal concern about popularity is required in order to succeed in this specialty. The Law School Admission Test (LSAT)To become a Legal Malpractice Lawyer, you must first go to college and gain your Bachelor’s Degree with a major in pre-law studies. Then, you must take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) and pass it with a very high score. At this point, you will be able to submit your application to Law School. Hopefully your grades have been high enough that you have a choice with regard to the quality of law schools that are willing to accept you. Once accepted to Law School, you will study law for three years. Once you graduate from Law School, you must pass your state’s bar exam. This is a very difficult test that takes two days to complete and it is common to fail with the first attempt. In some states, it also required before practicing law that you pass an interview with your county’s character and fitness committee. You will be then be able to find a position with a law firm that specializes in Legal Malpractice. At first, you will not be representing clients for legal malpractice by yourself, because malpractice is a complicated accusation to prove and you will need years of experience to master the skill. During this time, you will learn to take depositions, file paperwork and other supportive duties in legal malpractice cases. Certified Legal Malpractice SpecialistTo reach your goal of becoming a Legal Malpractice Lawyer after at least 3 years of working with senior attorneys, you should seek to become a board certified Legal Malpractice Specialist. This is a complicated and rigorous process that involves passing written exams. In order to obtain board certification you will be required by the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys to keep up with continuing education in the field of legal malpractice and be a member in good standing with the bar association. You will also need at least six character references, three from other lawyers and three from reputable judges. In addition, you must have served as lead counsel for at least 10 trials and 2 of those must have been in connection with legal malpractice and one of those must have been a jury trial. There are other combinations of requirements that are included with these, such as participating in 20 additional legal malpractice cases.
Preparation, Knowledge and ExperienceThe idea is that you must be an expert in fighting legal malpractice cases before you can be board certified. To win legal malpractice cases, a great deal of preparation is required. You must prove that the original case that was mishandled by the former attorney would have been won if that attorney had done his job properly. This is the only way to prove that there were actually damages incurred. A Legal Malpractice Lawyer earns his pay on a contingency fee basis. That means that the lawyer will receive as pay a percentage of the settlement award. In most states, a cap on fees is in place and usually averages between 20% and 40%. Or they may use a sliding scale depending on the amount of the settlement. For example, 33% for the first $300,000 ($99,000), then 25% for the next $300,000 ($75,000) and so on. Some cases take years to settle, but a Legal Malpractice Attorney may be working on several cases at the same time. American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys National Practitioner Data Bank
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