Legal question #1 statute of limitations?

[garwyli91]

My wife died June 18th 2006. I contacted an attorney about representing me in a malpractice case. The date of the malpractice was on June 17th 2006. During this time I made an effort to get the lawyer medical records. I made numerous phone calls to the attorney and numerous emails to the attorney which were not returned. I knew there was a statute of limitations and that there was only so much time I had so I continued to call and email the lawyer. After the 3 year deadline had passed I got a letter from the lawyer explaining that they made a mistake in the date and that my time limit had passed and there was nothing I could do about it now. I believe that the lawyer purposely blew me off, but only Almighty God knows - so I have no idea for certain. Do I have any recourse ?

[barraq]

If the statute of limitations has run, your only recourse is a malpractice suit against the lawyer.

SAVE the letter in which the lawyer admitted that they made a mistake and missed the deadline, as it will be useful if you sue the lawyer for malpractice.

However, in a malpractice case against the lawyer, you will probably have to prove BOTH that the lawyer committed malpractice, AND that the original doctor committed malpractice (and that you would have won the original case against the doctor). So now your case is harder to win.

You should talk to an attorney who handles legal malpractice claims about suing the first attorney.

[iden]

My gosh! and you never considered seeking services of another attorney during that time knowing the limitations were nearing? Well, you should now and hope you kept copies of all your unanswered communication from lousy attorney you had for that reason another attorney may find a way for you to proceed with lawsuit.

[colten]

Sorry to hear about this.

Probably not, but it wouldn't hurt to speak with another lawyer.

In the meantime, I would file a complaint with the State Bar Association.

For example, if you're in Florida, file with the Florida Bar.

Good luck.

[andor25]

You can file a damage suit against the lawyer for negligence. You can also file a disciplinary action with the bar council.