What can be done about an attorney who failed to do the job i retained him to do?

Asked about 1 year ago - Smyrna, DE

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I retained an attorney for a personal injury claim about two years ago. Since the day I retained this attorney, he has done nothing concerning my case including he never even filed the claim. I retained an attorney for my mother & I because we lived on a marine core base where the water was contaminated & as a result, my mother & I were severely injured along with more than ten thousand others. I know that personal injury claims have a two year statue of limitations but, the water contamination & our injuries happened back in the late 1970's. Since the attorney I retained never even filed the claim nor has he done anything at all, if our statue of limitations are now over, what can we do to ensure this attorney is held accountable & he reimburses us for the claim we should have recovered?

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Attorney answers (1)

  1. Contributor Level 20

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    Answered May 10, 2012 23:53. Suing this lawyer for malpractice requires you to prove a "claim within a claim," which means that another lawyer would have to 1st prove that you had a meritorious claim and would have won, and then that "but for" this lawyer negligence in letting your statute of limitations expire, you would have been able to prevail.

    Maybe this lawyer has malpractice coverage.

    You need to see a legal malpractice lawyer to evaluate whether the discovery of your 35 year old injuries was recent enough to preserve the statute, and whether your case was meritorious. Use AVVO's "Find a Lawyer" search function to look for malpractice lawyers in your area.

    Avvo doesn't pay us for these responses, and I'm not your lawyer just because I answer this question or respond to... more

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