What Not to Do When You Make a Mistake
By Amy McClurg for Thompson Hine
Maybe you were lucky and opposing counsel was able to delete the inadvertent email you sent her before she read what would have inevitably blown your whole case. But what about for those lawyers who were not so fortunate? Did you commit malpractice? Do you anticipate hearing from disciplinary counsel? Certain mistakes can be damaging to your career. Others just serve as a warning to be more careful. How you react to your mistake can prevent the bad from becoming worse. What not to do…
Hold your breath and hope the mistake goes away
It won’t, and you need to examine if the mistake is simple and can be fixed or has jumped over the line into legal malpractice territory. That’s going to be done on a case-by-case basis but ignoring the situation will only make matters worse. It could even appear that you are trying to conceal the mistake.
Talk to your supervisor, a trusted colleague, or if your firm has an Office of General Counsel, talk to one of its members. Talking the situation through can help you determine if you need to disclose the mistake to the client, if you are able to still represent the client, and whether you may need to get separate counsel. If something more serious does come of the mistake, doing nothing will reflect poorly upon you should disciplinary counsel launch an investigation or file a complaint—especially if you fail to respond. For more, click here.