Articles Posted in Legal Malpractice

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Adkins v. Palermo, Dist. Court, ED Kentucky 2014 – Google Scholar.

Probably the most common way to lose a legal malpractice case is to fail to identify an expert. The defendant moves for summary judgment and the court grants it. This opinion is worth reporting because it is well-written.

In the underlying case, plaintiff, represented by Mr. Palermo, filed a personal injury case. The trial court held that the defendant was immune under workers compensation doctrines. The lawyer told Adkins that there was no valid basis to appeal and concluded the representation. Adkins sued the lawyer, but he failed to obtain an expert witness and, thus, could not prove a breach of the standard of care.

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DEHART v. Lavit, Ky: Court of Appeals 2014 – Google Scholar.

This case recognizes a duty of care to opposing counsel to put the opposing counsel’s name on a settlement check. Lavit sued DeHart because DeHart forgot to put his name on a settlement check. The settlement funds were spent before they could be recovered.

The duty to opposing counsel is based on expert testimony concerning local practices. The court accepted the testimony.

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LAW OFFICE OF OSCAR C. GONZALEZ, INC. v. Sloan, Tex: Court of Appeals, 4th Dist. 2014 – Google Scholar.

This is a Texas case in which the lawyer, Oscar Gonzalez, was held liable when his co-counsel converted a settlement check. The attorney tried to defend on the ground that there was no attorney-client relationship. That defense was properly rejected by the jury where there was a signed engagement letter.

Edward X. Clinton, Jr.

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Meyers v. LIVINGSTON, ADLER, PULDA, 87 A. 3d 534 – Conn: Supreme Court 2014 – Google Scholar.

One recurring theme in lawsuits against lawyers is whether the plaintiff can sue for breach of contract and thereby obtain a longer statute of limitation. In Illinois, the statute of limitations for a breach of contract is either 5 years (oral) or 10 years (written). In Connecticut, the contract statute of limitation is 6 years, but the legal malpractice statute is 3 years.

Here, the court concluded that the action (filed more than three years after the claim arose) was untimely because the action was based upon a legal malpractice theory, not a contract theory. In particular, the plaintiffs’ allegations that the lawyer breached the Rules of Professional Conduct convinced the court that the case was a malpractice case not a contract case.

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IN RE JAHRLING, Bankr. Court, ND Illinois 2014 – Google Scholar.

Jahrling is an Illinois lawyer who filed for bankruptcy protection. A creditor who had won a legal malpractice judgment against Jahrling sought to block the discharge of that obligation in the bankruptcy proceeding.

“The Estate seeks to except from discharge a $26,000 state court legal malpractice judgment entered against Jahrling in 2007. It also seeks to deny the Debtor a discharge. The Amended Complaint asserts causes of action under four Bankruptcy Code (“Code”) sections: § 523(a)(4) — denial of discharge of a particular debt due to defalcation by a fiduciary; § 523(a)(6) ….” In other words the creditor was claiming that Jahrling breached his fiduciary duty to the creditor and therefore could not discharge the debt in his bankruptcy proceeding.

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One of the recurring themes that I see is that a client has a problem with a lawyer, but the client waits years and years before addressing what to do about it. Inevitably, the statute of limitations (2 years from discovery of injury) runs while the client deals with other issues.

First, if you are the subject of a bad ruling in a case, ask your lawyer to appeal the ruling. If the decision cannot normally be appealed, ask the trial court to certify it for an immediate appeal. Rule 304 allows a litigant to attempt to certify a question for an appeal:

Rule 304. Appeals from Final Judgments That Do Not Dispose of an Entire Proceeding

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This case, William L. Gunlicks v. Mayer Brown LLP, 2014 IL App (1st) 130845-U, is far too important to be reported in an unpublished opinion. Sadly, the opinion is unpublished for reasons that are unfathomable. The compliant alleges that Mayer Brown breached the duty of care in representing the plaintiff after he had agreed to the entry of a cease-and-desist order.

Gunlicks was a client of Mayer Brown. He was accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of violating Section 17(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933. Gunlicks was the founder, CEO and director of Founding Partners Capital Management Company, an investment adviser. In 2007, the SEC and Gunlicks entered into a cease-and-desist order that required “Gunlicks to cease from violating Section 17(a)(2) of the [1933 Act]. According to the cease and desist order, the SEC found that Gunlicks violated Section 17(a)(2) when he ’caused Founding Partners to have Stable-Value pay an undisclosed fee to Stewards and had Equity Fund and Stable-Value engage in transactions that were not consistent with their offering memoranda including transactions with entities under common control with Founding Partners.'” Opinion at ¶ 8.

In 2009, the SEC commenced an onsite compliance examination of Founding Partners’ records to determine if Founding Partners was in compliance with the cease-and-desist order. Shortly thereafter, the SEC filed a complaint for injunctive relief against Founding Partners and Gunlicks. The complaint alleged numerous securities law violations by the Defendants. As might be expected, the litigation went poorly for Founding Partners and Gunlicks.

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Scott v. Burgin, DC: Court of Appeals 2014 – Google Scholar.

The issue of privity frequently arises in legal malpractice litigation. A party lacks privity when the party did not have an attorney-client relationship with the lawyer. Recently, the privity rule has been relaxed by courts to allow lawsuits for legal malpractice by some persons who did not have an attorney-client relationship, such as the beneficiaries of an estate plan. Thus, a lawyer who breaches the duty of care in drafting an estate plan can sometimes be subject to suit by the beneficiaries who lost their inheritance.

Here, the plaintiff was the girlfriend of the decedent. She alleged that the lawyers for Kenneth Woodruff were negligent in failing to prosecute his divorce action against his wife. Burgin alleged that, had the divorce been obtained, she would have been eligible to receive certain retirement benefits upon Woodruff’s death.

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I last discussed this problematic topic on June 30th. This unpublished decision, Godbold v. Karlin & Fleisher, LLC, 2014 IL App (1st) 131523-U, illustrates a malpractice trap contained in Illinois law.

Usually, the rule in Illinois is that you must wait to file your malpractice action until you lose the underlying lawsuit. However, you should not wait to sue while the underlying decision is on appeal. That is the unfortunate mistake that the lawyers made in the Godbold case.

Underlying Case – Plaintiff Missed the Statute of Limitations

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Illinois has two statutes that establish time limits for when you can sue for legal malpractice. The statute of limitations gives the plaintiff two years from the time the negligence was discovered. However, the statute of repose bars any claim unless the negligent act occurred within six years of the filing of the lawsuit.  This means that you have two years from the time you discovered the injury to file a lawsuit, unless the negligent act of the lawyer is more than six years old.

What happens when you believe that your lawyer’s advice caused you to be sued? The Illinois courts have held in several such cases that the plaintiff is not required to sue for malpractice immediately. Instead, the plaintiff can wait until the underlying litigation is resolved. One such case is Warnock v. Karm Winand and Patterson, 1-06-0341, 876 N.E.2d 8 (2007).  The plaintiffs hired the defendant law firm to handle a real estate closing. The closing was to occur in April 2000. Plaintiffs claimed that the buyer (Mr. and Mrs. Brown) defaulted and plaintiff attempted to retain the earnest money. On August 1, 2000, the Browns filed suit, claiming that that plaintiffs had no right under the contract to withhold the earnest money.

Question – were the plaintiffs required to file suit against their lawyer when they were sued?  Did plaintiffs malpractice claim arise on August 1, 2000? Or did the claim arise when the plaintiffs lost the underlying case?

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