3:2 Negligence and Defining the Standard of Care

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

§ 3:2 Negligence and Defining the Standard of Care

Once it is established that the attorneyclient relationship existed,^[58] the next question in a negligence claim against an attorney is whether or not the attorney’s actions fell below the standard of care.

“An attorney must act for his client in a reasonably careful and skillful manner in light of his special professional knowledge.”^[59]

Put another way, an attorney “must ‘. . . possess such a reasonable knowledge of the law as is ordinarily possessed by other attorneys, and to discover those additional rules of law which, although not commonly known, may be readily found by standard research techniques.’ 7A C.J.S. Attorney and Client, § 256 (1980) [footnotes omitted]. Whether that standard is met is a question of fact under the circumstances.”^[60]

Yet another formulation stated negligence “is defined as the ‘failure of an attorney to use such skill, prudence, and diligence as lawyers of ordinary skill and capacity...