Malpractice is when a professional person, especially a doctor or lawyer, does their job so carelessly or incorrectly that it harms someone who trusted them. If a surgeon operates on the wrong leg, that's malpractice. If a lawyer misses an important court deadline and loses a case their client should have won, that's malpractice too.

The word combines “mal,” meaning bad, with “practice,” meaning the work someone does in their profession. It's not about honest mistakes that anyone might make. Malpractice means acting with such carelessness or incompetence that it falls far below what a responsible professional should do.

Malpractice matters because certain professionals hold enormous power over people's lives, health, and futures. When you go to a doctor, you trust them with your body. When someone hires a lawyer, they trust them with their legal rights. Society expects these professionals to meet high standards, and when they fail badly enough to cause real harm, it's called malpractice. People harmed by malpractice can file a lawsuit seeking compensation for the damage done, which is called a malpractice suit or malpractice claim.