Legal Malpractice - Litigation Errors

Legal Malpractice: Litigation Errors in Michigan

At Hoffer & Sheremet, PLC, we hold attorneys to the same standard of excellence that we uphold in our own practice. When a lawyer makes serious mistakes during litigation, the consequences can be devastating. If your case was lost or compromised because of an attorney’s negligence, you may have a legal malpractice claim.

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Our Grand Rapids-based legal malpractice attorneys are experienced in pursuing cases where lawyers failed their clients — and we can help you determine whether you have a claim.

What Are Litigation Errors?

One type of legal malpractice case that our experienced Michigan Malpractice Lawyers handle is when a lawyer makes a mistake in "litigation." That means that the lawyer makes a mistake in a case that is (or should have been) filed in court. This is as opposed to drafting errors, such as where a transactional attorney drafts a contract provision wrong.

Litigation is complex. But every attorney has a duty to act with competence, diligence, and loyalty. Litigation errors occur when an attorney’s mistakes go beyond strategy or judgment calls and instead fall below the accepted standard of care for lawyers.

Common litigation errors include:

Missing deadlines or statutes of limitations
Improperly drafted pleadings or motions
Failure to name proper parties or pursue all viable claims
Failure to object to inadmissible evidence
Not complying with court orders or procedural rules

When these errors cause a client to lose a case or forfeit a legal right, it may be legal malpractice.

What Are Some Examples of Legal Malpractice Cases Involving Litigation Errors?

Some of the most common cases we see are medical malpractice cases being handled by lawyers that are not experts in medical malpractice. Michigan medical malpractice cases have complex procedural requirements. Lawyers that "dabble" frequently make mistakes such as miscalculating deadlines for filing or obtaining the wrong expert witnesses.

Another common mistake we see is when lawyers fail to cooperate with discovery or respond to requests for admission. If the attorney does not files a response to a request for admission on time, that request can be deemed admitted against the attorney's client. Many times, cases are dismissed as a result.

Do I Have A Legal Malpractice Case?

Legal malpractice cases are very to prove. The law gives lawyers a lot of leeway in the practice of law.

Not every unfavorable outcome is malpractice. To bring a successful claim, you must prove:

An attorney-client relationship existed.
The attorney breached the standard of care through negligence or misconduct.
That breach caused actual harm — usually meaning you lost the underlying case or a significant legal right.

At Hoffer & Sheremet, we know how to untangle these complex claims. Our team conducts a thorough review of your prior case to identify exactly where your former lawyer went wrong.

Why Choose Hoffer & Sheremet?

Legal malpractice cases are notoriously difficult to pursue. They require attorneys with deep knowledge of litigation, ethics rules, and trial strategy. At Hoffer & Sheremet:

We limit our caseload so we can focus on delivering results.
We have a proven track record of holding professionals accountable.
We handle cases across Michigan, with particular experience in complex litigation matters.

Not to mention, our legal malpractice lawyers literally wrote the book (chapter) on Legal Malpractice for the Institute of Continuing Legal Education.

Frequently Asked Legal Malpractice Questions

Can I sue my lawyer because I lost my case?

When a case goes to trial, someone needs to win and someone needs to lose. Just losing at trial does not mean that you have a legal malpractice case. To have a legal malpractice case, you need to prove that your lawyer was negligent and that caused you to lose. That is a very high hurdle. Usually, those cases involve the failure to call a necessary expert witness.

How long do I have to file a legal malpractice case in Michigan?

The statute of limitations in Michigan legal malpractice cases is can be very difficult to calculate. As a general rule, you have two years from the end of representation in the matter for which the attorney was hired. You DO NOT have two years from the end of the litigation. That is extra tricky because you also can't prove a legal malpractice case until you lose. So if your attorney is negligent, and you hire a new attorney, the deadline starts ticking against your first attorney. But if your case is in the Court of Appeals or otherwise is not resolved within 2 years, you risk missing your filing deadline. Deadlines are strict, so contact us as soon as possible. If litigation has not concluded, you may need to enter into a tolling agreement with the negligent attorney to stop the clock.

How much can I recover in a legal malpractice case?

As a matter of law, you can recover for any damages that are the natural consequence of the malpractice. That would include mental anguish damages. However, as a practical matter, your damage equal what would have been won in the underlying litigation (or the amount of a judgment against you) if the attorney hadn't been negligent. Most insurance companies do not cover mental anguish, so unless you refuse to settle (which is usually not recommended), your recovery will be limited to what insurance is willing to cover.

Do you handle cases arising from divorce or custody cases?

No. We do not accept legal malpractice cases that arise from family law cases such as divorce or custody. That is because those cases largely involve matters of equity, not matters of law. Therefore, it is near impossible to prove legal malpractice. For example, many people complain that their lawyer did not call certain witnesses or present certain evidence. Those matters fall within attorney judgment and usually can't form the basis of a legal malpractice claim. Similarly, property division is up to the judge, and it is very rare that the lawyer would be at fault. The same is true for custody and parenting time decisions. The other common call we get in family law matters are billing disputes. We do not handle billing dispute cases.

Medical And Legal Malpractice Case Process

1. Contact the office

If you think you or a loved one is a victim of medical malpractice, contact us for a free case review. You can call, email, or fill out our contact form. Someone, most likely Emily, will be in touch to gather more information about your case. It is very helpful if you have any documents gathered together in one place. A timeline is also very helpful. For your case review, we will need the names of the healthcare providers that you think made a mistake, the names of any hospitals or doctor’s offices, and the dates on which you believe mistakes were made.

2. Initial Evaluation

We have been legal and medical malpractice trial lawyers for a long time. Sometimes, we will know right away that you do not have a case. You may have waited too long to sue, your injury might be a recognized risk, it might be too hard to prove that the malpractice caused your injury, or the cost of paying experts might be higher than we think you would recover. We will always be completely honest with you.

If we think your lawyer or healthcare provider might have made a mistake, and we think that mistake caused you an injury, then we will hire experts to make sure we are right. We will ask you to gather all of your records, and then we will send your records to the experts.

It can take a long time for an expert review. If the experts are not supportive on both breach of the standard of care and causation, then the investigation ends. But if the medical experts believe your former doctor, nurse, other healthcare provider or lawyer made a mistake that caused your injury, then the case will continue.

3. Pre-suit settlement or litigation

Lawsuits take a long time and cost a lot of money. So, we always try to settle your case without needing to file a lawsuit in Court. We write a demand letter in legal malpractice cases. In medical malpractice cases, the law requires us to serve a Notice of Intent and then wait 182 days before filing the lawsuit. Sometimes, we will send a demand letter before the Notice of Intent. Very few medical malpractice cases settle without filing a lawsuit. More legal malpractice cases do, though.

If we can’t settle your case, we will file a lawsuit and begin litigation. You can read about the litigation process here.

Start Your Free Case Review

Or call us at 616.278.0888. No appointment is necessary for an initial phone consultation.