att. failed to file case before statute limitations ran out

[john121]

What is the name of your state? NJ
attorney had case since 08/06, statute limitations expired, attorney filed 4 days late, appealed, case was denied, was told att. malpractice ins. would handle it from there; was never contacted by attorney's malpractice ins.; contacted attorney's malpractice ins. agent on my own; original case was for $150,000.= was in large dept. store and 4 drawer file cabinet fell off of shelf above me and hit back of neck -shoulder and upper back-also had 2 witnesses and cashier, store manager and their ins. co. said they take full responsibility; my attorney's malpractice ins. agent is telling me i would have never gotten that much and offered $9,000 or maybe a little more. i know attorney's malpractice ins agent is just doing her job but if they are willing to give this sum do you think it would be in my best interest to hire a legal malpractic attorney? what is statute limitations to file legal malpractice and how much are legal malpractice attorney fees?

Thank you for your kind attention and speedy reply in this matterWhat is the name of your state?

[las365]

Just to clarify the terminology, you are dealing with the adjuster for the professional liability carrier, not the agent. The insurance company is handling this the way insurance companies handle all claims; they have made their evaluation of your loss and are negotiating using an offer based on that evaluation.

I am not an attorney; the following is based on my general knowledge as a legal assistant. Generally, in a legal malpractice case, you have to be able to prove: 1) that the attorney committed legal malpractice (which has been admitted in your case); 2) that you would have gotten a recovery in the case in which the malpractice was committed; and 3) what the recovery likely would have been.

The lawsuit that the lawyer filed late may have asked for $150,000 but that doesn't mean you would have gotten that amount if the suit had gone forward. You need to come up with evidence of what recovery you would most likely have been able to get in your injury case. This is tricky because if you had gotten a recovery in that case, you would have owed the attorney fees and expenses, so your net recovery would not have been the same as the gross, i.e. say you had gotten $150K, the fees would have been at least $50K and let's say expenses were $10K if you went to trial. Under that scenario your net recovery would have been $90K. Or let's say the case settled for $30,000 with fees of $10K and expenses of $3K. Under that scenario your net is $17,000. See? So the malpractice carrier may be evaluating that your injury case was worth about $12-15,000 total.

How much were your medical bills and lost wages? Do you have permanent injuries?

You should get a lawyer to help you evaluate your case and make a proper demand. You can probably recover his or her fees as well.

[john121]

first of all, i have had a lipomas on the back of my neck before this happened and had previous disc in neck. after file cabinet fell of shelf at store onto back of my neck, shoulder ie., had much pain in neck and pain was coming from lipoma so i had procedure done and had 6 inch cut in back of neck and had lipomas removed; waited for that to heal and still had pain; seen doctor after this and he ordered mri of cervical and thoracic; compared new mri with older mri and had several new bulging disc; in my opinion these are permanent injuries caused by the accident. i have only incurred about $3500. in medical, reason being have no insurance to cover doctor visits, therapy, surgical procedures etc. i have not put in for any lost wages as i am self-employed and sole breadwinner in my household

[las365]

In my opinon, as your damages stand today, the $9000 doesn't sound like a bad offer.