Legal Malpractice Case Study

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I. Can Joyce Beyer’s successfully bring a legal malpractice suit? In order for a client to successfully bring a legal malpractice suit they must show the required elements of legal malpractice which are “(1) an attorney-client relationship; (2) a duty owed to the client by the attorney to use such skill, prudence, and diligence as lawyers of ordinary skill and capacity possess in exercising and performing the tasks which they undertake; (3) a breach of that duty; (4) the breach being the proximate cause of the client's damages; and (5) actual loss or damage resulting from the negligence.” Mainor v. Nault, 101 P.3d 308, 310 (Nev. 2004). This memo will only discuss elements 2-5 in that order, in addition the duty and breach elements will be combined as well as the proximate cause and actual loss elements. The first element of attorney-client relationship is well established so it need not be discussed. A. Joyce will likely be able to show breach of duty since her attorney Mr. Brenner failed to obtain child support in a divorce proceeding when he was clearly aware of her financial situation. The second …show more content…

Similarly to Sorenson, the negligence of Brenner in a divorce proceeding proximately caused the damages incurred by Joyce. It seems that the most obvious reason Joyce did not get child support was due to Brenner’s failure to demand it during the divorce proceedings. His lack of prudence and diligence directly caused Joyce to lose out on support she would have benefitted from. Without continued support from Joyce’s ex-husband that was failed to be acquired by Brenner through the divorce proceedings, Joyce will not be able to support herself or her child properly. Pursuant to NRS 125B.070, she is entitled to 18 percent of her ex-husbands salary, and without that she will be losing out on much needed financial

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