Missoula Legal Malpractice Lawyers

Missoula Legal Malpractice lawyer icon, Boland Aarab PLLP

Missoula, MontanaMissoula Legal Malpractice

Missoula Legal Malpractice Lawyers: Attorney Negligence, Missed Deadlines and Lost Cases in Missoula County

Boland Aarab PLLP.

If a lawyer’s mistake cost you a case, a deal, property or money in Missoula, you may have a legal malpractice claim. You must prove the lawyer failed to use reasonable care and skill and that the failure caused you a real loss, usually with expert testimony from another Montana lawyer. You generally have three years from discovering the error, and never more than ten.

Key Takeaways

  • A legal malpractice claim has four elements: duty, breach, injury and proximate cause (Labair v. Carey, 2012 MT 312, ¶ 20; Labair).
  • With limited exceptions, “only expert testimony can establish the standard of care in a legal malpractice case” (Babcock Place, 2003 MT 111).
  • The deadline is 3 years from when you discovered or should have discovered the error, and no more than 10 years from the error itself (§ 27-2-206, MCA).

Believe a lawyer’s mistake cost you in Missoula? Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.

Why does it matter who brings a malpractice case in Missoula?

Because a legal malpractice case asks one lawyer to hold another accountable, and in Missoula the legal community is close-knit.

Missoula is home to the University of Montana’s Alexander Blewett III School of Law, Montana’s only law school (University of Montana). Many Montana lawyers trained there, and many practice in Missoula. The Fourth Judicial District Court handles a very large docket: its Clerk’s office takes in more than 5,000 new cases a year, civil, domestic, probate and more (Missoula County District Court). The federal court’s Missoula Division handles cases from eight western Montana counties. With that much legal work comes the occasional serious error.

People who suspect malpractice often worry that local lawyers will not want to sue a colleague they see every week. That concern is understandable. We are based in Great Falls, we handle cases statewide, and we bring the same approach to a malpractice claim as to any other case: prove what the lawyer did, prove what it cost, and be ready to try it.

What kinds of malpractice claims come up in Missoula?

The underlying matters vary, but the errors follow familiar patterns:

  • Missed deadlines in injury, wrongful death, employment and civil rights cases, including the short one-year deadline for wrongful discharge claims and notice requirements for claims against the city, the county or the State.
  • Mishandled federal cases in the Missoula Division, where removal, scheduling and appeal deadlines are strict.
  • Real estate and business transactions, including purchase agreements, leases, easements and water rights on property around the valley, the Bitterroot and the Flathead.
  • Estate planning and probate errors that surface only after a death.
  • Settlement problems: failing to convey an offer, settling without authority, or overlooking a lien or an underinsured motorist claim.
  • Conflicts of interest that led a lawyer to favor someone else.

A disappointing result is not, by itself, malpractice. The question is whether the lawyer fell below the standard of care, and whether that caused a loss you can measure.

Get your file. You are entitled to your client file. Ask for it in writing, and keep copies of every letter, email and bill. If the original matter was a lawsuit, the court file is available from the Clerk of District Court at the Missoula County Courthouse, 200 West Broadway, second floor, (406) 258-4780, or from the federal court’s electronic docket.

Talk to a lawyer before the deadline. Section 27-2-206 runs 3 years from when you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the act or omission, with a 10-year outer limit. Discovery is often disputed, so use the earliest possible date.

The expert review. We have a qualified Montana lawyer review what happened and explain what a reasonably careful lawyer would have done.

Which court. A malpractice suit against a Missoula lawyer or firm is generally filed in the Fourth Judicial District Court in Missoula, where the defendant resides (§ 25-2-122, MCA). Appeals go to the Montana Supreme Court.

Discipline is separate. A complaint to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel in Helena addresses a lawyer’s license and ethics. It does not compensate you, and it does not stop your malpractice deadline from running.

Montana law that applies

  • Duty. An attorney-client relationship establishes the duty of care; the existence of a duty is a question of law for the judge.
  • The “case within a case.” When the error happened in a lawsuit, you usually must prove that, but for the lawyer’s negligence, you would have succeeded in the underlying case (Lorash v. Epstein, 236 Mont. 21 (1989)). That means proving the original case as well as the malpractice.
  • Transactions. In a deal, the question is what protection a careful lawyer would have built into the documents and what its absence cost you.
  • Expert testimony is almost always required (Babcock Place).

For more, see our Montana legal malpractice lawyer page.

Why hire a Great Falls firm for a Missoula case?

A malpractice case is two cases at once, and it demands lawyers who are comfortable trying both. We are based in Great Falls and handle legal malpractice claims statewide, and our attorneys travel to Missoula for depositions, hearings and trial. Our appellate and federal experience matters, because many malpractice claims grow out of lost appeals and federal cases.

The Boland Aarab Way

  • We know appeals. The Boland Aarab appellate record reaches back to 1977, and the Montana Supreme Court reinstated a $168,500 jury verdict for our client in Voegel v. Salsbery, 2023 MT 137.
  • We know federal court. Our attorneys have handled more than 40 cases in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana over nine years, and Samir Aarab has argued twice before the Ninth Circuit.
  • We try cases. Our firm has tried more than a dozen jury trials, and our attorneys have spent more than 4,000 hours in the courtroom.
  • You work with the lawyers. Caitlin Boland Aarab and Samir Aarab handle your case themselves.

We also handle Missoula appeals and Missoula insurance bad faith cases, and other Missoula personal injury claims.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will a Missoula lawyer take a case against another Missoula lawyer? Some will, but many people prefer lawyers from outside the local bar. We are based in Great Falls, handle cases statewide and travel to Missoula as the case requires.

My Missoula lawyer missed the deadline to file my injury case. What can I do? You may have a malpractice claim, but you will need to prove what the injury case was worth. Act promptly; the malpractice deadline generally runs 3 years from discovery.

Should I file a complaint with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel? You may, but a disciplinary complaint does not compensate you and does not extend your deadline to sue. Talk to a malpractice lawyer first.

How do I get my file from my former lawyer? Ask for it in writing. For a lawsuit, you can also obtain the court file from the Clerk of District Court at the Missoula County Courthouse or from the federal docket.

Do I need an expert witness? Almost always. An experienced Montana lawyer usually must explain to the jury what a reasonably careful lawyer would have done.

Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.

Our attorneys: Caitlin Boland Aarab · Samir F. Aarab

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.