Personal Injury Newsletters

Attorney Liability for Another Attorney's Malpractice

An attorney may be held liable for committing legal malpractice while representing a client. Legal malpractice occurs when an attorney fails to use such skill, prudence, and diligence as lawyers of ordinary skill and capacity possess and exercise. In addition, other parties may be held liable for that attorney's misbehavior.

Governmental Immunity from Suit

If a party is injured by some act of a governmental unit, official, or agency, he may or may not be permitted to sue. The reason that he may be barred from suing is because of "sovereign immunity." Traditionally, this doctrine protected governmental units, officials, and agencies from liability based on their tortious acts unless they had consented to being sued. Now, this immunity has been waived in large part and only applies in certain circumstances.

Malicious Prosecution

It should be obvious that the purpose of the criminal justice system is to bring criminals to justice. Unfortunately, people sometimes try to use the criminal justice system for improper purposes, such as revenge. As one would expect, using the criminal justice system solely for improper purposes is prohibited by law. The personal injury lawsuit that addresses improper criminal prosecution is known as malicious prosecution.

The Duty of Children

Generally, the law requires a person to exercise the degree of care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise under the same circumstances. This is called "the duty of reasonable care." A person who breaches his duty of reasonable care is guilty of negligence.

The Jones Act -- Overview

The Jones Act is a federal law designed to compensate seamen who are injured while working aboard vessels in navigable waters.