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Professional negligence occurs when a professional fails to perform their duties to the accepted standard of care within their field, resulting in harm or loss to a client or patient. Unlike ordinary negligence, which might involve careless behavior in everyday situations, professional negligence relates to the skills, expertise, and responsibilities expected from licensed professionals such as doctors, lawyers, accountants, architects, and engineers.
When these professionals do not meet the standards established by their profession, and their failure causes damage, they may be held legally accountable for professional negligence.
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Duty of Care
To better understand professional negligence, it helps to consider the concept of a “duty of care.” Professionals owe their clients a duty to act competently and with reasonable skill and diligence. This duty is shaped by industry standards, legal regulations, and ethical codes. For example, a doctor must diagnose and treat patients according to accepted medical practices, while a lawyer must provide competent legal advice and representation.
If a professional breaches this duty, such as a doctor misdiagnosing a condition or an accountant making significant errors in financial statements, and this breach causes harm, it may constitute professional negligence.
Proving Negligence
Proving professional negligence typically requires showing four key elements: the existence of a professional-client relationship establishing a duty of care; a breach of that duty by failing to meet the accepted standard of practice; causation, meaning the breach directly caused the client’s injury or loss; and actual damages resulting from the negligence.
Because professional negligence cases often involve complex technical details, expert testimony is usually necessary to establish what the accepted standard of care is and how it was violated. Understanding professional negligence is crucial for anyone who relies on specialized services and wants to know their rights if something goes wrong.
Against Whom Can You Make a Claim for Professional Negligence?
In cases of professional negligence, a claim is typically made against the professional or organization responsible for providing the service that fell below the accepted standard of care, causing you harm or loss. This can include individual professionals, firms, or companies, depending on the nature of the service and the professional relationship involved.
Individual Professionals
You can make a claim directly against the individual professional whose actions or omissions led to your injury or financial loss. This could be a doctor, lawyer, accountant, architect, engineer, or any other licensed professional who failed to perform their duties competently.
Professional Firms or Organizations
Many professionals work within firms or organizations, and these entities can also be held liable for negligence. For example, if a lawyer working at a law firm commits malpractice, both the individual lawyer and the law firm may be named in a claim. Similarly, hospitals or medical groups can be held responsible for the negligence of their employed or affiliated healthcare providers.
Employers and Supervisory Bodies
In some cases, you may also be able to bring a claim against the employer of the negligent professional, especially if the employer failed to provide adequate training, supervision, or oversight. Additionally, regulatory or licensing bodies may be involved in disciplinary actions, but typically are not defendants in negligence claims.
Multiple Parties
There are situations where liability may be shared among several professionals or organizations. For example, in complex projects involving architects, engineers, and contractors, multiple parties might be responsible for the negligence that caused your loss.
Because professional negligence often involves specialized knowledge and standards, claims must be carefully directed at the correct parties who owed you a duty of care. Consulting with a legal expert familiar with professional negligence can help identify the right defendants and build a strong case.
Where to Turn for Help
A professional negligence lawyer specializes in handling claims against professionals who fail to meet the standard of care in their field. These attorneys have expertise in areas like medical malpractice, legal malpractice, accounting errors, and other specialized fields.
They understand the complex standards and regulations governing various professions and can navigate the legal process to prove negligence, causation, and damages. By working with expert witnesses and thoroughly investigating the case, professional negligence lawyers help clients seek fair compensation for losses caused by incompetent or careless professionals. They provide crucial guidance throughout negotiations or litigation to protect clients’ rights.
