Lawyers make mistakes. When lawyers make mistakes and their clients are somehow harmed by the mistake, then there may be a remedy for the aggrieved client against the lawyer. Here is a good explanation of what legal malpractice is, provided by the website of Massachusetts legal malpractice attorney Charles P. Kazarian:
"Legal malpractice is a serious matter involving the breach of a duty owed by a lawyer to a client resulting in demonstrable damage to the client. Lawyers are obliged to conduct themselves with the skill, care and diligence of an ordinary, qualified practitioner in the practice area of a client’s case. In other words, if it causes you harm, below-average performance by your lawyer is generally considered malpractice.
"The mere fact that you lost your case or lost an asset / legal right is not by itself evidence of malpractice. You still have to show that your lawyer violated the duty of care described above and that the violation resulted in a loss. An ordinary, average performance by your lawyer is also not malpractice. The fact that an excellent lawyer would have done a better job does not necessarily mean that your lawyer’s ordinary performance is malpractice, even if you lost."
A common legal malpractice claim involves a blown statute of limitations case against an attorney. In this situation, the former client is suing his/her attorney f0r failing to file the client’s personal injury lawsuit within the required statutory time.