The practice of law is a very demanding profession. Each jurisdiction has its own rules for filing documents and discovery; each has different deadlines and procedures. Each area of law can take years to master and most attorneys will spend their entire career within a particular area of law.

All attorneys have an affirmative duty to vigorously prosecute or defend their clients' positions. Attorneys who get in over their heads have a duty to seek expert help or make room for someone who knows what they are doing. All too often inexperienced or unethical attorneys will continue to move forward in a manner that is ultimately detrimental to the client.

Most of the time when a case is lost, it is because the case was not strong enough. However, if it can be shown that proper application of the law would have had a different outcome, there may be reason to bring a malpractice action against the offending attorney.