Van de Kamp v. Goldstein

Van de Kamp v. Goldstein is a legal case from 1986 that clarified how courts determine if a lawyer’s errors during a trial are acceptable or if they qualify as malpractice. The case established that a lawyer's mistakes only amount to malpractice if they were significantly below the standard of care expected of attorneys and if these errors directly caused harm to the client’s case. Essentially, the court emphasized that not all mistakes by lawyers qualify as legal malpractice; the errors must be serious and must have negatively impacted the client's outcome for a claim to succeed.