Missing a Deadline or Statute of Limitations Could Be Legal Malpractice
A statute of limitations is the legal deadline by which a legal action must be filed with the courts or be forever barred. If you brought a legal claim to your attorney in a timely fashion and it likely would have succeeded if your lawyer had not missed the statute of limitations, you may have a legal malpractice claim.
There are many deadlines to be met in legal practice. Some are required by law, while others are based on the rules of civil procedure or local court practice. Some are based on contract requirements. Whenever an attorney misses a deadline and it results in loss of a claim, a loss of rights, or economic harm to a client, that attorney should be held to account for their legal negligence, and the client should be compensated.
At the Law Offices of Sherwood Allen Salvan, we have been protecting the rights and interests of clients in legal malpractice cases for more than 40 years. If your attorney missed a deadline or statute of limitations — or if you are accused of legal malpractice, we can provide you with experienced, seasoned advocacy and strategy. Contact us to discuss your claim.
Common situations where deadlines and statutes of limitation are missed
When a lawyer makes the fundamental error of missing a statute of limitations, it takes away any chance you had to seek legal relief in that case. Missing some other filing deadlines, such as a court-ordered deadline to submit evidence to be used at trial, may result in vital evidence being excluded or your case even being dismissed.
Attorney Sherwood Allen Salvan has decades of experience in handling cases against attorneys accused of negligence and incompetence. He has the experience to gather the necessary information to support your claim against your previous attorney.
In many cases, an attorney's failure to meet a deadline is not total, but relates to a particular issue or party:
Failure to name all defendants: If your attorney failed to perform a proper investigation, he or she may not have discovered all potentially liable parties. Although the lawsuit itself was filed within the statute of limitations, any defendants your attorney failed to include by that deadline could be immune from any further claims.
Failure of service: It is also common for all defendants to be properly named in the lawsuit but improperly served. If your attorney filed a lawsuit immediately before the statute of limitations expired, any irregularities in service could be fatal to your claim against any defendants who were not served before the deadline.
We all understand deadlines. Failure to meet legal deadlines or statutes of limitation is form of legal incompetence that is surprisingly common — and causes significant harm to clients. If you have lost your rights or been harmed by an attorney's malpractice, you have the right to seek redress.
Contact us today to consult with an attorney with decades of experience handling legal negligence cases.
Frequently asked questions about legal malpractice
Law Offices of Sherwood Allen Salvan
877-393-4556 | 917-699-8416 | THESALVANLAWFIRM@aol.com
Contact the Law Offices of Sherwood Allen Salvan for an initial consultation with a New York City attorney highly experienced in legal malpractice and other complex civil litigation. Calls answered 24 hours a day. Convenient and accessible location on 57th and Madison Avenue.