You are an employee of a corporation. Something bad happens and the corporation’s internal lawyer (or an outside lawyer) tells you he wants to talk to you. When the interview starts, he tells you that he does not represent you, he only represents the corporation. You don’t think about the…
Davis v. Fenton, Dist. Court, ND Illinois 2014 – Google Scholar. Chief Judge Castillo has stayed an unusual legal malpractice case pending the outcome of arbitration. The case is highly unusual because it was filed by Kelli Dudley a lawyer who defends against foreclosures. In this case her client alleges…
Cabrera v Collazo 2014 NY Slip Op 00622. This is an opinion of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division. The facts were simple. The attorney missed the applicable statute of limitations and the client’s claim was barred. In such cases, the lawyer is liable for legal malpractice if the…
In Frechtman v. Gutterman, 2014 NY Slip Op 00437, the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, a lawyer received an irate letter from his client in which his services were terminated. The lawyer sought to sue for defamation. The trial court dismissed the defamation case and the Appellate Division affirmed. The letter…
The case is captioned Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board v. Robert Allan Wright, Jr., 13-0780, December 6, 2013. The Iowa Supreme Court disciplined Wright for (a) failing to recognize a Nigerian scam and (b) allowing other clients to participate in the scam. This case has received a fair amount…
The case is captioned In the Matter of Thomas M. Dixon, 71S00-1104-D1-196. The Indiana Supreme Court dismissed all charges against Thomas Dixon, an attorney who represented 85 pro-life protestors in proceedings before Judge Jenny Pitts Manier. Judge Manier is married “to Professor Edward Manier, who was a tenured professor at…
Recently, the undersigned encountered an arbitration clause drafted by a successful Chicago law firm. I will quote the relevant language in full and then discuss what the language means for a client. I am not in any way criticizing the clause or the lawyers who drafted it. “This Agreement shall…
KLINGELHOEFER v. PARKER, GROSSART, BAHENSKY & BEUCKE, LLP, 20 Neb. App. 825 – Neb: Court of Appeals 2013 – Google Scholar. This case concerns whether a member of an LLC can sue for legal malpractice the lawyers who represented the entity. The Nebraska Court of Appeals held that the plaintiff,…
This case is a somewhat routine affirmance of a bank fraud conviction and the rejection of an ineffective assistance of counsel claim. The Defendant alleged that her lawyer rendered ineffective assistance of counsel by failing to call certain witnesses at the trial of the case. In the criminal world, an…
DRAFT COMPLAINT. The ARDC has filed a complaint against two lawyers who handled a case on a contingency basis. The first agreement from 2005 gave them a legal fee of 33 and 1/3 of the gross amount recovered. After they had obtained a recovery for the client, they lawyers prepared…