A recovery for legal malpractice requires three elements: (1) employment of an attorney; (2) the attorney's neglect of a professional obligation; (3) resultant loss. Sanders v. Malik, Del.Super., C.A. 97C-10-231, Herlihy J. (November 21, 1997), aff'd, Del.Supr., 711 A.2d 32 (1998). To prove damages, the client, or plaintiff in a legal malpractice action, must prove that but for his lawyer's negligence, the client would have been successful. Id. As a general rule the standard of care applicable to a professional can only be established through expert testimony; however, an exception to this rule exists when the professional's mistake is so apparent that a layman, exercising his common sense, is perfectly competent to determine whether there was negligence. Weaver v. Lukoff, Del.Supr, 511 A.2d 1044 (1986).