Crab eater seal In Taylor v. Attorneys At Law, CAAP-22-000396 (unpublished), Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals, the court affirmed a grant of summary judgment to the defendant attorneys in a legal malpractice claim. Plaintiff retained them to prosecuted a wrongful death action arising out of the death of Taylor’s father.…
No matter how you feel about a result of litigation, you cannot sue the opposing lawyer. The litigant in this case tried to sue the lawyer who represented a landlord in an eviction case. But he had already sued the lawyer in another case and lost. The trial court dismissed…
Lawyers sue for fees and clients file counterclaims for legal malpractice. In this unpublished Ohio case, Tarahfields, LLC v. White Law Office Co., 2025 Ohio 178. The law firm filed a collection case for the client and defeated a summary judgment motion and proceeded to trial. (The outcome of the…
In Dodenc v. Dell & Dean, PLLC 2025 NY Slip Op 650, the Appellate Division ordered the dismissal of a legal malpractice claim filed by an unsuccessful plaintiff in a personal injury case. Dodenc alleged that she was unable to prove her case because of the negligence of the law…
The attorney judgment rule essentially provides a lawyer with a defense to a malpractice action where the lawyer made a judgment call among one of several reasonable alternatives. The classic example would be to recommend a client plead guilty to a crime or for a criminal defendant not to testify…
A limited liability company (LLC) is a distinct entity and the lawyer for the LLC does not represent the members, absent evidence to the contrary, such as an engagement letter. Cafe Holdings, Inc. v. Burke, Warren, Mackay & Serritella, 2024 IL App (1st) 230091 discusses this case and holds that…
In Stogis v. Miller, 2024 Il App (1st) 230379 the Illinois Appellate Court affirmed the dismissal of a legal malpractice lawsuit. The lawsuit was dismissed by the trial court on two grounds, the statute of limitations had expired and that there was no attorney client relationship between the lawyer and…
I receive an email like this every month or so: “Hi I have a business law matter for which I need assistance. Kindly confirm if you are available to handle such matters. Thank you for your time and consideration. Please contact me via my personal email for more details” You…
One common complaint against an attorney is that the attorney did not negotiate an adequate settlement of the underlying case. In this fact pattern, Plaintiff hired Lawyer 1 to file a personal injury action. Plaintiff replaced Lawyer 1 with Lawyer 2 who (a) settled the personal injury case, and (b)…
In Anderson v. Law Offices of Benedict Schwarz, 2014 Il App (2d) 230308-U, the plaintiff sued her former attorney, alleging malpractice in a divorce case. Plaintiff alleged: “that the defendants failed to take appropriate measures to freeze or maintain accounts that she owned with her husband. Because the assets were…