Professional Malpractice Case Value Calculator

Types of Professional Malpractice

Professional malpractice covers licensed professionals whose errors cause financial (rather than physical) harm.

• Legal malpractice

  An attorney’s error — a missed deadline, bad advice, or conflict — that costs you a case or a right.

• Accounting malpractice

  Negligent audits, tax preparation, or financial statements causing losses or penalties.

• Financial-advisor malpractice

  Unsuitable investments, misrepresentation, or breach of fiduciary duty.

• Architect/engineer errors

  Design or inspection failures causing construction losses or defects.

Proving Professional Malpractice

1. 1

   Duty

   A professional relationship created a duty to meet the standard of the profession.

2. 2

   Breach

   The professional fell below that standard — established almost always by an expert in the same field.

3. 3

   Causation ("case within a case")

   For legal malpractice, you must show you would have won the underlying matter but for the error.

4. 4

   Damages

   A quantifiable financial loss traceable to the mistake.

What You Can Recover

• Direct financial loss

  What you lost — or failed to gain — because of the professional’s error.

• Consequential damages

  Related losses that flowed from the mistake, such as penalties or lost opportunities.

• Sometimes fee forfeiture

  Return of fees paid to the negligent professional, depending on the claim.

Punitive damages are uncommon in malpractice; recovery is usually tied to your provable economic loss.

The Expert Requirement

You can’t prove professional malpractice with your own opinion of the work.