Professional Negligence Claims

Our experienced, friendly lawyers can assist you with:

• Incorrect financial advice (eg: tax-related advice, poorly conducted audits, poor financial analysis)
• Negligent legal advice from lawyers (not acting in your best interest or against your instructions, badly drawn contracts, failure to make critical decisions
• Unsatisfactory service from a financial advisor or accountant who causes you to lose money or other financial hardship & more

In Australia professionals are required to carry out their services with reasonable care, skill and competence. If they fall short of this standard, and you suffer harm or loss as a result, you may have a legal right to bring a claim for professional negligence.

Broadly speaking, a “professional” is someone whose occupation involves prolonged training and formal qualification. Any person practising a profession can fall within the ambit of professional negligence law. Professionals can include:

• Accountants
• Architects
• Builders and Tradespeople
• Engineers
• Financial advisors
• Lawyers and legal practitioners
• Medical and health practitioners
• Real estate agents
• Surveyors

Before perusing a claim of professional negligence against a lawyer, solicitor or you should seek independent legal advice. Negligence cases can be complex and your ability to bring a successful claim will depend on a number of factors including the nature of the negligent act, how long ago the act occurred and whether you contributed to the harm or loss suffered.

There are also specific elements that a claimant must prove in order to make a successful negligence claim against a legal professional. These elements are:

1. A duty of care existed between the lawyer and the client;
2. The legal professional breached their duty of care to the client;
3. The negligent act or breach of duty caused injury, loss or damage.

Merely being dissatisfied with the service provided or outcome reached by your lawyer does not necessarily mean they have acted negligently. In order to prove negligence a legal professional must have failed in their duty to provide legal services with reasonable care and skill. You may be able to peruse a claim if your lawyer:

• Provides poor or incorrect advice;
• Fails to act in accordance with your proper and lawful instructions;
• Discloses or mishandles confidential information;
• Acts dishonestly or fraudulently; or
• Misses important deadlines.

The time for bringing a claim for professional negligence can vary depending on the loss or damage suffered and the applicable legislation in your state or territory. In Victoria, a claim for professional negligence must generally be commenced within 6 years of the date you suffered loss and damage occurring as a result of any breach of duty of care owed to you.

If the negligent act results in personal injury, the action must be commenced within 3 years.

In certain circumstances, deadlines can be extended. We recommend seeking professional legal advice if you are unsure about how much time you have to lodge your claim.

If a lawyer drops your case, it means they are ceasing to act for you and are no longer your legal representatives.

It is important to note that a lawyer choosing to drop your case does not necessarily amount to professional misconduct, so long as the decision to do so is in line with legal professional conduct rules.

There are certain circumstances in which a lawyer may lawfully cease acting for you. This might include:

• If a conflict of interest arises which means the lawyer can no longer act in your best interests;
• If you fail to provide instructions when required or in a timely manner;
• If you fail to pay legal costs in accordance with your costs agreement;
• If you ask your lawyer to act in a way that would be unethical or illegal;
• If you reveal to your lawyer that you have lied to the court or procured another person to lie to the court or falsified documents in some material way while your matter was still in progress.

If you believe your lawyer has not handled your legal matter with due care and skill you should get independent legal advice to help understand your options.

For an obligation free discussion, call Gordon Legal on (03) 9603 3000 to speak with a caring and committed member of our team.

In addition to seeking legal advice in relation to professional misconduct, you may choose to make a complaint with the relevant overseeing body in your state of territory. In Victoria, the Legal Services Commissioner is responsible for the receipt, investigation and resolution of complaints about legal practitioners. Further information can be found here.