Rådgivaransvar
What recourse do I have as a client against my lawyer (jurist) who has repeatedly ignored my communications regarding my citizenship application, leading to a lack of progress and a breakdown in trust? Situation: I have been waiting for my citizenship application for over 5 years and hired a lawyer last September to assist with the process. Despite my efforts to follow up regularly, my lawyer has frequently ignored my emails, resulting in delays. After leaving a negative review on Google, the lawyer apologized and resumed communication. However, they have once again ignored my emails for over a month. At this point, I am considering requesting reimbursement and hiring a new advocate for my migration problem. However, I am unsure about my rights in this situation. Thank you for your help.
Lawline svarar
Hello,
Thank you for turning to Lawline with your question. The answer to your question depends on whether the person is a lawyer or a “jurist”. Lawyers (and sometimes jurists) are considered to be advisers according to Swedish law and therefore it becomes relevant to discuss so-called “adviser responsibility”.
Adviser responsibility for lawyers
It’s important to emphasize that you must have suffered financial loss to claim adviser responsibility. It is not clear from your question whether you suffered financial loss. The financial loss must have been a result of the lawyers’ negligence in his advice. The Supreme Court stated in NJA 2018 s 414 that liability for damages for lawyers' advice exists in the case of obvious errors, for example when the legal question is simple or the answer is easy and the lawyer, due to ignorance or oversight, gives advice that is clearly against the law or established practice. Other types can be when the lawyer neglects to pay attention to evidence close at hand or fails to observe various types of deadlines.
However, the issues can be complex and require difficult considerations; the assessment of negligence must then primarily focus on the question of whether the lawyer was sufficiently careful in his investigations and in his analysis of the actual circumstances and of the legal situation and the procedural conditions for pursuing the client's case.
Thus, if the lawyers’ negligent advice (for example if he failed to observe deadlines in your case) has an adequate connection with your financial loss, he may be liable for damages due to adviser responsibility. However, if the delayed responses have not led to any financial damage, you cannot claim adviser responsibility.
Adviser responsibility for “jurister”
Even though the person you are referring to is a jurist, and not a lawyer, he can be responsible if it is clear that you perceive the jurist as your legal adviser. In NJA 1981 s 1091, the Supreme Court stated right to indemnity when an assistant jurist (biträdande jurist) been negligent in his advice. In NJA 1957 s 621, the client was entitled indemnity even though the jurist did not represent a law firm. The Supreme Court underlined that the jurist dealt with specific issues in a company which meant that it could be required that he had special expertise in the relevant area of law.
Note that adviser responsibility for jurists also requires negligence and that the negligence has an adequate connection to the injury; the financial loss. The court can claim adviser responsibility and the right to indemnity.
I hope you got answers to your questions. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact us again.
Sincerely,
