Any person who holds himself out to the public as a professional in a certain field of endeavor must have enough knowledge and ability to perform the services that his profession requires. He must further use reasonable care to avoid causing injury to his clients.

In performing professional services for a client, an attorney has the duty to have that degree of learning and skill ordinarily possessed by a reputable attorney practicing in the same or a similar locality and under similar circumstances. In discharging his services for a client, it is the attorney's duty to use the care and skill ordinarily used in like cases by reputable members of his profession practicing in the same or a similar locality under similar circumstances. He is also required to use reasonable diligence as well as his best judgment in the exercise of his professional skill and in the application of his learning while working to accomplish the purposes for which the attorney was employed. A failure to perform any such duty by an attorney is professional negligence, or malpractice.

To establish this lack of "care and skill," the client must generally employ the services of another lawyer to testify as an expert witness. An attorney is not negligent or "guilty of malpractice" merely because his efforts were unsuccessful or he made an error in judgment in the matter for which he was employed. However, if the attorney was negligent as described above, it is not a defense that he did the best that he could. In order to recover damages from an attorney for negligence in the handling of a matter, the client must not only establish that the attorney was negligent, but also must establish that but for such negligence, the client would have been successful with either his claim or defense. Numerous factors must be considered in pursuing a professional negligence claim against an attorney. The client should consult an attorney experienced in such matters before making any final decision.