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Personal Injury Law

Professional Negligence

Are all attorney or legal malpractice claims based on negligence law?

No, legal malpractice law can occur based on contract law and breach of fiduciary duty. Remember that you sign a contract with an attorney when you enter into an attorney-client relationship. If the attorney violates the terms of that contract, he or she can be liable for breach of contract.

Also, an attorney owes a client a duty of loyalty and a duty of confidentiality. This imposes a special duty—called a fiduciary duty—upon the attorney. If the attorney violates either of those duties, then the attorney may be on the hook for a malpractice claim for breach of fiduciary duty.