After 25 years of handling legal malpractice claims, I have started to notice common patterns and scenarios that often lead to errors and claims. The details and facts may vary slightly, but the underlying story shows up again and again.

And the hard truth is that most of these situations are not caused by a lack of intelligence or even a lack of legal knowledge. They are usually the result of very human pressures that play out in predictable ways.

Here are a few of the most common fact patterns I have witnessed.

1. The “Too Busy to Be Careful” Problem

This is probably the most common pattern of all. Being busy is a good thing. Lawyers go to great lengths to attract clients and generate business. But too busy can be dangerous. When files pile in and the phone won’t stop ringing, what used to be a manageable caseload becomes something closer to a moving conveyor belt. At first, the lawyer keeps up. Then the shortcuts start.

Calendaring gets a little looser. Review becomes more cursory. Tasks that used to be double-checked are now assumed to be fine.

I have seen this in residential real estate practices during hot markets. Closing lawyers are trying to move a high volume of transactions in a short period of time. That is when liens get missed. Title issues go unnoticed. Documents are reused without careful revision, and small drafting errors turn into big problems.

The issue is not that the lawyer does not know what to do. It is that the pace of the work quietly erodes the systems that would have prevented the mistake.

2. The Struggling Lawyer (Who No One Wants to Confront)

Another pattern that shows up far too often involves someone in the firm who is struggling. It might be burnout. It might be depression. It might be substance use. Sometimes it is all three. The warning signs are usually there. There are often missed deadlines, unreturned calls, and declining work quality.

No one wants to have the uncomfortable conversation. No one wants to escalate the issue. And so, the situation lingers.

Unfortunately, untreated impairment does not stay contained. It spills into client work. Files get neglected and communications break down. By the time the issue becomes unavoidable, there is often already a claim.

This is one of the clearest examples where early intervention is not just compassionate. It is risk management.

3. The Communication Breakdown

A surprising number of claims are not really about the legal work at all. They are about communication, or miscommunication.

The client thought the lawyer was handling something that the lawyer never agreed to handle. The lawyer assumed the client understood a risk that was never clearly explained. A key development occurs, and no one follows up to confirm the client’s decision.

These situations often arise in busy practices where communication becomes more informal or rushed. A quick phone call replaces a confirming email. Advice is given without documentation. Expectations are implied rather than stated. When the outcome is unfavorable, the gap between what the client thought and what the lawyer intended becomes the claim.

Clear, documented communication is one of the simplest and most effective ways to prevent this entire category of problems. It is also often the first thing to slip when time is tight.

Conclusion

If there is a common thread running through all of these situations, it is that malpractice claims rarely come out of nowhere. They tend to build slowly. The warning signs are usually there. You might feel constantly rushed. Or maybe you start to notice the colleague who does not seem like themselves. The challenge is not spotting these patterns. It is being willing to respond to them in real time. That might mean slowing down when everything is speeding up, putting something in writing that feels obvious, or having a conversation that would be easier to avoid. None of those things are particularly dramatic. But they are often the difference between a file that closes quietly and one that comes back years later as a claim.