The American Bar Association estimates that 46 percent of all legal malpractice claims are based on the attorney’s failure to understand substantive law or specialized procedures, and that more than 60 percent of all malpractice claims involve an area of the law in which the subject attorney works less than 20 percent of the time. Attorneys who practice in a single area of the law account for less than 7 percent of all claims.
Practicing in an unfamiliar area of the law can be tantamount to “dabbling.” While licensed lawyers are permitted to practice almost any type of law within the jurisdiction of their licensing board, and every attorney encounters a learning curve when branching out into new areas, problems arise when a lawyer fails to appreciate the nuances of a previously untried field of law.
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