A violation may be based on a breach of an attorney’s ethical duties to the client. However, you must be able to show that you suffer harm because of the attorney’s breach of ethics. An attorney discipline proceeding is different and separate from a malpractice action. An attorney discipline proceeding goes before a disciplinary panel with the goal of maintaining an ethical legal system. On the other hand, a legal malpractice action is about compensating you when you become a victim of the attorney’s failure to do their job up to legal standards.
Although a breach of the attorney code of ethics is strong evidence of negligence, it doesn’t automatically mean negligence. You must still show how the attorney’s actions fall below the standard of care compared to a reasonable attorney. Our Tampa legal malpractice attorneys can help you explore how the attorney code of ethics may be relevant to your malpractice claim.