Legal Malpractice Attorneys | King & Jones

When the Lawyer You Trusted Made Things Worse, We Help You Make It Right

Hiring an attorney is an act of trust. You share your most sensitive information, rely on their judgment at critical moments, and expect them to fight for your interests with competence and integrity. When that trust is violated — through negligence or outright misconduct — the consequences can be devastating.

At King & Jones, we represent clients harmed by their attorneys. Our trial lawyers have spent decades litigating complex cases, and we understand — from the inside — what competent legal representation looks like, where it breaks down, and how to prove it when it does. We hold attorneys and law firms accountable when their failures fall below the professional standards their clients had every right to expect.

What Is Legal Malpractice?

Legal malpractice occurs when an attorney breaches their duty of care to a client and that breach causes measurable harm. It is not enough that your lawyer made a decision you disagreed with, or that your case had an unfavorable outcome — litigation is inherently uncertain, and not every loss is the result of malpractice. But when an attorney’s conduct falls below the standard a reasonably competent lawyer would have met under similar circumstances, and that failure costs you something real, the law provides a remedy.

To establish a legal malpractice claim, you generally need to show:

An attorney-client relationship existed — The attorney owed you a professional duty of care
The attorney breached that duty — Their conduct fell below the standard of a reasonably competent attorney
The breach caused your harm — You must show that but for the attorney’s negligence, you would have achieved a better outcome
You suffered actual damages — The malpractice caused quantifiable financial or legal harm

The third element — causation — is often the most challenging. Legal malpractice cases frequently require litigating a “case within a case,” proving not only that your attorney was negligent, but that you would have prevailed in the underlying matter had they done their job correctly. This is complex work that requires attorneys who understand both malpractice law and the underlying practice area where the failure occurred.

Types of Legal Malpractice We Handle

King & Jones handles legal malpractice claims arising from a wide range of attorney failures, including:

Missed deadlines and statutes of limitations — Failing to file within the required time, resulting in case dismissal or the permanent loss of legal rights
Failure to know or apply the law — Providing incorrect legal advice, missing applicable legal standards, or failing to identify controlling authority that would have changed the outcome
Inadequate investigation and case preparation — Failing to gather evidence, depose key witnesses, retain necessary experts, or otherwise build the case the client needed
Conflicts of interest — Representing parties with competing interests, or allowing a personal or financial relationship to compromise the attorney’s loyalty to the client
Breach of fiduciary duty — Failing to act in the client’s best interests, including mishandling settlement authority or making decisions without informed client consent
Mishandling of client funds — Commingling funds, misappropriating settlement proceeds, or failing to account properly for money held in trust
Failure to communicate — Leaving clients uninformed about critical developments, deadlines, or settlement offers that required their input
Unethical conduct and fraud — Deliberate misconduct, fabrication, or misrepresentation by an attorney that caused direct harm to the client

The “Case Within a Case” Challenge

Legal malpractice litigation is uniquely demanding because it requires proving two things at once: that your attorney was negligent, and that their negligence actually cost you a winnable case or a better outcome. This means reconstructing what should have happened — what evidence should have been gathered, what arguments should have been made, what result a competent attorney would have achieved — and presenting that parallel case persuasively to a judge or jury.

King & Jones is built for exactly this kind of litigation. Our attorneys have the courtroom experience to try complex cases, the legal knowledge to evaluate what competent representation looks like across multiple practice areas, and the investigative capability to reconstruct what went wrong and why.

Representing Both Plaintiffs and Defendants in Legal Malpractice Disputes

We primarily represent clients who have been harmed by attorney negligence or misconduct. But we also represent attorneys and law firms who face malpractice claims that are exaggerated, legally insufficient, or brought in bad faith by clients who suffered unfavorable outcomes through no fault of their counsel.

For plaintiffs, we evaluate the full scope of the harm, identify every viable theory of recovery, and build the strongest possible case — including the underlying case that should have been won.

For defendants, we scrutinize whether the alleged conduct actually fell below the professional standard, whether causation can be established, and whether the claimed damages are legally supportable. Not every dissatisfied client has a valid malpractice claim, and we provide experienced, rigorous defense for attorneys and firms facing allegations that don’t hold up under scrutiny.

Remedies Available in Legal Malpractice Cases

Depending on the nature of the attorney’s failure and the harm caused, available remedies may include:

Compensatory damages — Recovery of financial losses caused by the attorney’s negligence, including the value of the lost case or legal right
Recovery of fees paid — Return of legal fees paid to an attorney who failed to provide competent representation
Disgorgement — Recovery of improper payments or misappropriated funds
Punitive damages — Available in cases involving intentional misconduct or fraud
Disciplinary referral — While not a civil remedy, egregious attorney misconduct may warrant referral to the state bar for professional discipline

Your attorney was supposed to protect your interests. When they didn’t, you may have more legal options than you realize — but the window to act may be limited by its own statute of limitations.

More information on legal malpractice cases.