Most of the lender liability cases we handle have been worked on by other lawyers prior to coming to us. Sometimes the clients aren’t happy with their lawyer and sometimes the lawyer refuses to sue the client’s bank. Believe it or not, many lawyers refer cases to us when they realize they are getting in over their heads. Unfortunately, we sometimes see cases where the prior lawyer has committed legal malpractice and made fatal errors in handling the case.
Whether the case involves the loss of a family home or the loss of a business, the stakes are usually quite high. Unfortunately, there are too many cases where the lawyer originally handling the case simply botched the case.
Obviously, missing a deadline a court deadline is a clear ground for malpractice but those cases are thankfully rare. The legal malpractice cases we see are those where the original lawyers missed Truth in Lending Act violations or other sophisticated defenses. We also see cases where the lawyer spends too much time defending the foreclosure instead of pursuing claims against the bank.
The simple truth is that banks usually win foreclosure cases. The best way to fight your lender is to sue them for their wrongdoing. In simple English, the best defense is a good offense. Unless the bank has skin in the game, it has little incentive to give up and stop fighting.
Many of the attorneys that claim to work for the so-called foreclosure defense firms are nothing more than bankruptcy lawyers. While there is a time and place for bankruptcy, often these lawyers offer nothing more than helping you buy time. They can rarely make the problems disappear, however. In commercial cases (the cases we deal with), absent a Chapter 11 filing, it is not even easy to buy much time.
Earlier today I spoke with a couple from Georgia. They spent almost $100,000 on a so-called “foreclosure defense” lawyer. Looking over the lawyer’s pleadings and briefs to see the arguments he made on behalf of the couple, it becomes clear that he committed legal malpractice. The couple may still lose their home and whatever money they had saved for a fresh start instead went to their lawyer.
Although we have handled legal malpractice cases in the past, it is not how we make our living. If you are a business owner with approximately $5 million or more in losses or loans, give us a call. We can do our best work when brought in early in a case.
There are very few true lender liability lawyers willing to sue banks. The “show me the note” residential foreclosure defense lawyers are almost never the answer nor are the lawyers with little commercial loan and real experience with suing banks.
For more information, contact attorney Chris Katers at [hidden email] or the author of this post, attorney Brian Mahany, at [hidden email] or by phone at (414) 704-6731 (direct).
If it is too late and you already lost your business because of bad advice by a lawyer, give us a call. We can probably refer you to a good legal malpractice lawyer. Just like most lawyers won’t sue banks, they won’t sue other lawyers either.
Unfortunately, we are unable to handle consumer and residential bank lawsuits.
MahanyLaw and Judge, Lang & Katers – America’s Lender Liability Lawyers –We Sue Banks