8 Words that will help you avoid bar grievances & legal malpractice claims

OK so back when I used to work for The Florida Bar I would sometimes go across the parking lot and visit with the Bar’s Disciplinary Department. And I used to share the stage at lots of Lawyer CLE programs with my friend Kevin Tynan who has since left The Bar as a Prosecutor & is now in private practice where he helps lawyers who have been accused of violating Bar Rules and in Legal Malpractice suits. PLUS I’ve done a fair amount of comparing notes with Legal Malpractice Insurance agents & carriers.

So even though I don’t have empirical evidence to back this up I feel pretty confident telling you that one of the leading causes of legal malpractice claims escalating into lawsuits and the #1 source of Bar Complaints is a lawyer’s reluctance to apologize to a client if a mistake has been made. Or to simply apologize to the client that the client’s expectations were not met, even if the lawyer did not make a technical error.

Let me expand on this second point because the first one is pretty obvious. To me, when a mis-communication occurs between a lawyer and a client, it’s ALWAYS the lawyer’s responsibility. Why? Because WE are the ones who are supposed to be the professional communicators, not our clients. We are the ones who are supposed to know to stop & clarify exactly what is being referred to by the words “it”, “that”, “he”, “she”, “them”, “his”, “hers” & “their” And to the extent that you can eliminate these words from your own discussions with clients, opposing counsel, judges and even friends & family I PROMISE you will be a happier lawyer. And remember, happy lawyers make more money so maybe that will be an incentive for you too!

These 8 words lead to more claims of legal malpractice being filed and more bar grievances against lawyers than any others. Conversely the following 8 words and the leading PREVENTERS of legal malpractice claims being filed and prevent more bar grievances against lawyers than any others:

“I apologize. How can I make this better?”

Here’s an example of me apologizing for something that wasn’t really my fault. But it was still my responsibility. So I apologized! (BTW keep an eye out for a new special report showing you how to save money on your legal malpractice insurance)