Practice Areas

Lawyers are required to act competently and ethically in providing legal services to their clients. If you are concerned that your lawyer may not have done so, you should promptly seek legal advice to determine if they may have committed malpractice and/or violated the Rules of Professional Conduct. If you have a valid claim against your attorney and decide to pursue it, one of the most important decisions you will make is selecting your counsel. Here are some of the key questions you should ask regarding the attorneys you are considering.

While most cases settle, having an experienced trial attorney is often a key factor in reaching better and faster settlements. If you have counsel with a track record of a willingness to go to trial in the proper circumstance, and an known history of doing so, this usually creates significant settlement leverage, because your opponent knows that if necessary your attorney will in fact try the case. This is particularly true if your counsel has extensive experience trying legal malpractice cases. Conversely, if your counsel has limited trial experience, it may be more difficult to reach a settlement because your opponent knows or believes your counsel does not generally try cases, does not like to try cases, and will therefore fold at the end to avoid going to trial. And obviously, in those instances where your best option is going to trial, having an experienced legal malpractice trial attorney is invaluable.

It is critical that the attorney who will be doing the bulk of the work on your case is highly experienced, particularly in the professional malpractice area. Even if the senior attorney attached to your case is highly qualified, typically the bulk of the work on your case will be done by associates or junior partners with only a few years of experience on your type of case. Inexperience can result in critical and often costly mistakes.

It is therefore important to select counsel where the senior attorney will be actively involved in all aspects of your case, and will be providing guidance and oversight on all of the important decisions that will have to be made.

At Schonfeld Law, APC, Mr. Schonfeld will personally handle your case. You will therefore have an experienced trial attorney with extensive trial experience in legal malpractice cases working with you to achieve the best solutions for your issues.

★★★★★

“Thank you very much for the help you gave our family and business, and the work you did for us. The resolution of the case relieved a huge emotional load from us. Your analysis of this particular situation was spot on, your recommendations on how we should proceed were flawless, and the ultimate execution you followed through with went exactly how you envisioned. We will be recommending you to anyone in need of an attorney. Again, please understand how much we appreciate your understanding and help. Thank you.”
– Mike A.

★★★★★

“Alan Schonfeld was my Special Counsel in a very complex and difficult legal malpractice action against two law firms. Mr. Schonfeld’s meticulous knowledge and understanding of the law and facts of the case, and his precise litigation strategy and implementation led to a multi-million dollar settlement. The settlement was so impressive the bankruptcy court allowed a fee enhancement recognizing the tremendous result. I would highly recommend him.”
– United States Bankruptcy Trustee