Professional disloyalty

The Supreme Court (TS) has confirmed the conviction of two lawyers who did not attend the trial of their client nor informed him of when it was taking place. Their absence caused the court to consider the claim as abandoned and archive the procedure. For the TS, what happened was not a simple oversight as it constituted a serious negligence that left the affected party without the possibility of obtaining a judicial response.

The client had commissioned a claim to obtain the recognition of a permanent total disability . The lawsuit was filed, but neither of the two professionals appeared at the trial. Furthermore, they did not inform him that the matter had been archived and one of them assured him for years that it was still pending . When the client discovered what had happened, he was already 65 years old and could not submit a new application.

The lawyers appealed arguing, among other issues, that the claim had little chance of succeeding. However, the TS explains that it was not necessary to prove that the client would have won. The harm was in having taken away a real opportunity that a judge would examine your request. One thing is that winning was difficult and another that claiming turned out to be completely useless. It was also not necessary to prove a economic loss specific to appreciate that harm.

The ruling also clarifies why the two lawyers respond. They are not condemned simply for working in the same office. Whoever the two lawyers. They are not condemned simply for working in the same office. Who received the assignment still had obligations to their client, even if they had delegated actions. The other lawyer had prepared the claim , signed the lawsuit, and known the date of the trial. Each one is therefore responsible for their own omissions.

The result is the confirmation of the condemnation for professional disloyalty committed through gross negligence. The TS upholds the convictions, as well as the compensation for moral damage, which must be paid jointly.

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