Your lawyer missed a deadline, gave you bad advice, or mishandled your case, and you are the one paying for it. Before you can pursue a legal malpractice claim in New Jersey, the first question is whether you have a valid claim against that particular attorney -- and the threshold requirement is a clear attorney-client relationship. You cannot file a legal malpractice suit against an attorney who has never represented you.
You might wonder, "What about an attorney who represented someone else--like a business, government agency, or another individual--against me?" The answer is that you cannot pursue a legal malpractice claim against them, as they did not represent you. However, if the attorney committed a wrongful act (a tort) against you, you could potentially have a claim, but that would not fall under the category of malpractice. Similarly, legal malpractice does not apply to a judge who presided over your case.
If an attorney acts unethically, you may file a grievance with the Office of Attorney Ethics, which will investigate the matter to determine if further action is warranted. For judges, the process is similar, but the governing body is the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct in New Jersey.
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