New Jersey Legal Malpractice Lawyers for Insufficient Preparation

Top-Rated Legal Malpractice Lawyers Advocate for Clients Harmed by a Lawyer’s Lack of Preparation

The skill and expertise of your lawyer is crucial to the success of your case.  However, lawyers cannot rely upon education and pure talent alone. Your lawyer must diligently prepare for each case, which can include in-depth research, investigation and analysis of the law.  If you believe you were harmed because of your lawyer’s insufficient preparation in your case, you may have a valid claim for legal malpractice under New Jersey law.  

At Team Law, our dedicated legal malpractice lawyers have collectively spent over 60 years building a reputation for excellence in the legal community.  We know what it takes for a lawyer to be sufficiently prepared to handle a client’s case—because we have been successfully representing clients throughout New Jersey for decades.

Your lawyer has a duty to advocate zealously on your behalf—a duty that requires providing competent legal representation.  Many lawyers unfortunately attempt to rely upon their past experience in order to represent a current client. Often, that results in a lawyer who is unprepared to negotiate specifically on your behalf or even effectively present your case at trial.

If you case suffered because of your lawyer’s lack of preparation, you do have legal rights.  

Legal malpractice cases can be complex, but our top-rated lawyers are here to help.  To tell us what happened in your case, schedule a free case review with our New Jersey legal malpractice lawyers by calling our office or filling out this online contact form today.

Preparation is Key to Providing Competent Legal Advice

What amounts to sufficient preparation can vary depending upon the facts and circumstances of your case.  Even when the legal theories involved are similar, every client’s case is unique, and must be given the time necessary to provide effective representation.  A thorough preparation can include:

• Detailed investigation into what happened in your case,
• Hiring experts to provide their analysis,
• Locating eyewitnesses and other hard evidence, such as video surveillance of an accident scene,
• Reading and analyzing all documentation, including documents provided during discovery,
• Understanding the legal theories that will apply to your case,
• Submitting all required work by the relevant deadlines.

When your lawyer fails to prepare, your case will inevitably be weaker than it could be with strong preparation.  An unprepared lawyer may know less about how your case impacted your life or could even be unfamiliar with the relevant laws themselves.  Importantly, judges, mediators and even the insurance adjuster responsible for settling your case will not appreciate your lawyer’s lack of preparation.

In many cases, you might be uncertain whether your lawyer’s preparation errors impacted your case value.  Some signs that may point to poor preparation include:

• Your lawyer missed a deadline or failed to appear at court,
• Your lawyer has appeared intoxicated, exhausted or otherwise impaired,
• Your lawyer does not seem to ask you many questions or spend much time with you while preparing your case,
• Your lawyer seems inclined to accept a settlement offer that is lower than you expected,
• Your lawyer routinely fails to return your phone calls or emails.

When your lawyer is unprepared for trial, it is bound to show—at least to the judge and other lawyers involved in the case.  Failing to call necessary witnesses or present important evidence can make the difference between a fair compensation award and a total loss, especially once you have reached the trial stage.  Our lawyers will evaluate what happened in your case and work to determine whether reasonable preparation could have led to a better outcome for you.

Team Law Helps Clients Harmed by a Lawyer’s Preparation Errors Get Fair Compensation in New Jersey

At Team Law, our experienced legal malpractice lawyers are here to help protect your rights.  Importantly, every lawyer has their own process for preparing a case—and not every loss in the courtroom is the result of malpractice.  To establish your right to take action based on your lawyer’s malpractice, we will work to prove:

• Your lawyer owed you a duty of care based on the lawyer-client relationship,
• Your lawyer breached that duty by making preparation errors that a reasonable, trained lawyer would not have made,
• That lack of sufficient preparation harmed your case.

Establishing that your lawyer’s lack of preparation harmed your case is one of the most complex elements of a legal malpractice claim based on preparation errors.  Our lawyers will begin by examining the evidence in your underlying case to determine what a reasonable lawyer would have done—and compare that to your lawyer’s actual preparation.  In most cases, we may call in an expert who can testify to how your lawyer’s actions—or lack of action–may have harmed your specific case.

Schedule a Free Case Evaluation with the Respected New Jersey Legal Malpractice Lawyers to Team Law Today

Like any other endeavor, preparation in the legal context can be the key to success.  Even if you have a strong case, an unprepared lawyer can ruin your chances of recovering compensation by missing a deadline or failing to present an argument at court.

To learn more about your legal rights, speak with our experienced legal malpractice lawyers.  For a free case evaluation, call our office or fill out this online contact form and we will get back to you promptly.

Frequently Asked Questions About Legal Malpractice Claims Involving Preparation Errors in New Jersey