If you have been working with an attorney on a case, business situation or other similar type matter, and the attorney is negligent or engages in misconduct while acting as your attorney and that negligence or misconduct causes you harm, you may have a claim for legal malpractice. As in the medical field, attorneys must conform to standards of conduct recognized by their profession. An attorney is required to possess the legal skill and knowledge that is ordinarily possessed by members of the profession. Typically claims against an attorney arise when an attorney commits an error that would have been avoided if the attorney had exercised a reasonable standard of care. For example, if your attorney misses a deadline and you lose your claim, you may have a legal malpractice claim. If your attorney gives you improper advice and you lose your claim because you follow that advice, you may have a claim. There are many situations that may give rise to a legal malpractice claim. A legal malpractice action, however, is not likely to succeed if the attorney committed an error in an area of law that law was unsettled or debatable. And, of course, just because you do not win or get the outcome you want in a case does not mean that your attorney has been negligent.