The term malpractice in general refers to illegal, corrupt or careless professional behavior. It may arise from a professional's misconduct to perform his or her professional duties with adequate care and diligence. When a skilled professional rendering responsible service fails to strictly comply with generally accepted professional standards, causing loss or damage to their clients or service takers, then these instances of improper practice are called malpractice. The litigation of malpractice, practically, occurs to only those professionals - in the field of law, medicine, education and such others - who are recognized by the society as equipped with special skills and abilities.

The skilled professionals are often licensed and regulated by the state. A client approaches a skilled professional in their geographical location based on his or her reputation as provider of a decent standard of care. In case the client while retaining or relying upon the professional's service suffers injury, loss or damage, he or she can take action against that service provider professional. But before proceeding to sue the professional the client has to first inform the professional about the problem caused by them.

Since malpractice of any kind is often human error, most of the professionals on realizing their mistakes find remedy to rectify the problem. If still it persists the client should consult with an attorney to proceed against the professional whom he or she feels has committed malpractice and caused damage that is irremediable. Often a client will be unaware of the seriousness of the malpractice caused by the professional. Hence his or her attorney seeks experts or consultants in the same field. It is then the combined work of one's attorney and the advice sought from an expert that helps the client to sue the professional for recovery of damages.

The professionals as such are often under the purview of State agencies and organizations that conducts review and disciplinary functions. These agencies and organizations, if needed, impose penalties, fines, suspension or even revocation of services.