A fiduciary breach claim against an attorney alleges violation of the duties of loyalty, confidentiality, or candor, including undisclosed conflicts, self-dealing, and misuse of client information.
It is distinct from negligence and may support different remedies.
Alternative Names:
Attorney Fiduciary Breach, Lawyer Fiduciary Duty Claim
Why it Matters?
Plaintiffs plead fiduciary breach alongside malpractice because the remedies differ: fee forfeiture and disgorgement do not require proving the underlying case would have succeeded, which avoids the case-within-a-case burden entirely. That makes the characterization consequential. Defense arguments frequently address whether the conduct alleged is genuinely disloyalty or merely negligence relabeled to escape the causation requirement.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Why plead fiduciary breach alongside malpractice?
Are the claims duplicative?
