Ineffective assistance of counsel

Ineffective assistance of counsel is an issue raised in legal malpractice suits and in appeals in criminal cases where a criminal defendant asserts that their criminal conviction occurred because their attorney failed to properly defend the case. In order to prevail on such a claim, the plaintiff or appellant must show two things:

•  Deficient performance by counsel.
•  But for such deficiency, the result of the proceeding would have differed.