Not happy with your settlement outcome from a previous claim? You may be able to sue your former lawyer.
We know many survivors of institutional abuse have sued the offending institution but settled their claims for a fraction of their value. In some cases, this is because they were let down by the lawyers they had engaged to represent them. Led by poor legal advice, these survivors have settled their very valuable claims for pathetically small sums of money.
Perhaps you are a survivor of abuse and received poor legal advice that resulted in you receiving a sum that was simply not appropriate for the distress and trauma you experienced. If this is so, you might have a claim for professional negligence against your former lawyer for getting you the poor settlement.
This can amount to a considerable sum of money.
Considering legal action against your former lawyer
In some cases, you will not be able to get rid of your old settlement deed (ie the legal document you signed during your previous claim in which you accepted the settlement). In those circumstances you might consider legal action against your former lawyer.
This can be difficult. In some cases your former lawyer will not have been negligent – your case might have been very challenging and difficult to prove or there might have been other good reasons for accepting a reduced settlement sum.
In other cases your former lawyer might have done a poor job – but not bad enough to be negligent.
But in some other cases, your former lawyer may have been negligent.
Rightside Legal has succeeded in a handful of these claims against two Victorian law firms. Rightside Legal has also run the only case to verdict against an abuse lawyer who negligently settled an abuse survivor’s claim. The case involved Waller Legal, a prominent Victorian firm which has represented hundreds of survivors. In that case, Waller Legal did not claim lost earnings for their client (a critical and valuable part of most survivors’ claims) and settled his claim for only $130,000. Rightside Legal was able to set aside his deed in part – and won the man an extra $400,000.
Then our client sued Waller Legal to recover another portion of his losses. After a Supreme Court trial in 2025, the Court ordered Waller Legal to pay our client another $260,000. The judge found that Waller Legal’s failure to advise the client about claiming economic loss was negligent.
In Rightside Legal’s experience, this failure to claim economic loss (or lost earnings) on behalf of clients, was very common in the past among some Victorian law firms.
But remember – you have only six years to take legal action against your former lawyer. After that you lose your rights. So if you settled within the last six years for a sum that you now believe was unfair and far too small you could seek advice.
(Note, because of a former class action against Waller Legal, you have a little extra time against that law firm – if you have settled with Waller Legal as your lawyers after 2019 you may have legal rights.)
I believe my former lawyer gave me poor advice resulting in a small sum of compensation. Is there anything I can do about it?
In some circumstances you can. Rightside Legal is the first law firm to get a successful decision against the former lawyer of an abuse victim who came to us for help. So talk to one of our lawyers today about your options.
Why should I choose a Rightside Legal lawyer to sue my former lawyer?
Rightside Legal has proven experience and expertise running successful claims against law firms that negligently settled an abuse survivor’s claim. We are also the only firm that has run a case to verdict, winning our client further hundreds of thousands of dollars that his previous lawyer’s negligence had meant he’d missed out on.
Why Rightside?
Our Track Record
Rightside Legal’s goal from its creation was to set the standard in representing survivors of historical sexual abuse. We were founded by lawyers committed to getting the best possible result every time. Our experience is that the same Institutions who allowed sexual abuse to take place do not willingly pay proper compensation to survivors. They need to be dragged to the door of the Court, and if necessary, into the Court. Most lawyers and most other law firms have never run a trial for a survivor. Rightside’s lawyers have been at the legal coalface setting new benchmarks. We will explain to you in clear language how we see your case, and what we are going to do to get you the compensation you deserve. Our experience is on your side. Everytime. No exceptions.
Current Projects
Rightside is currently representing a number of survivors of abuse who have received inadequate compensation sums due to the negligence of their previous lawyers. We are litigating for survivors against a number of Victorian and interstate law firms. In addition to the verdict against Waller Legal, a prominent Victorian firm which has represented hundreds of survivors, we have obtained settlements for other clients without going to trial.
No Win. No Fee.
Capped Pricing.
At Rightside we don’t have a string of expensive offices, dozens of partners or expensive marketing campaigns to fund. We limit the number of cases we take on, prepare your claim properly and fight hard for 100% of what your claim is worth.
We understand that our clients are often anxious and uncertain about the whole legal process. We’ll do our best to eliminate the uncertainties. We work on a No Win No Fee basis – that means we fund the litigation, and you only pay when we succeed. We also cap our fees to give our clients greater certainty.
Rightside Legal Melbourne
Level 10, 469 La Trobe Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Email: info@rightsidelegal.com.au
Rightside Legal Perth
1/58 Walcott St
Mt Lawley WA 6050
Email: perth@rightsidelegal.com.au