One area that can lead to claims against lawyers occurs when the lawyer accepts one part of a representation but declines to represent the client in another matter. Any declination should be communicated clearly to the client and confirmed in writing. If you don’t do that, the client may later…
The Illinois Appellate court recently affirmed a grant of summary judgment in the case captioned Requet v. Stengel, Bailey & Robertson, 2023 IL App (3d) 210203-U. The opinion is unpublished, but it is worth reading. Requet was the managing member of PVY Development, an LLC engaged in developing and selling…
A recent decision by the Ohio Court of Appeals, Meehan v. Smith, 2022 Ohio 2359 (8th Appellate Dist. 2022), is instructive on the difficulties that an expected beneficiary of a will or estate plan sues for legal malpractice. The expected beneficiary (daughter of the decedent) claimed that she was a…
This case is captioned Khoury v. Kathleen Niew, Stanley Niew, and Niew Legal Partners, 2021 IL App (2d) 200388. Kathleen Niew converted funds of the plaintiffs that were held in her firm’s trust account. The only issue on appeal was whether the trial court properly held that Stanley Niew also…
It is generally well-settled that a party cannot sue the laywer who represents an opposing party. In the case Hitchcock v. USAA Casualty Insurance Company, (M.D. Florida) (6:18-cv-1986-ORL-28TBS), Hitchcock sued USAA after a she became subject to a large judgment in a personal injury action. She alleged that USAA should…
One question that comes up over and over again is “How do I prove that the lawyer (who I am unhappy with) was my lawyer?” How do I demonstrate an attorney-client relationship. This video has some basic thoughts on that issue: https://youtu.be/oBFGn4SaD-I “>http://
The case is GB v. Christine Rossi, A-240-17T3. The case was decided in New Jersey and is an unpublished opinion. The case illustrates one problem with legal malpractice cases – there may be wrongful conduct, but the plaintiff must tie the wrongful conduct to her damages. Plaintiff was getting divorced.…
One issue that arises frequently in legal malpractice cases is – to whom does the lawyer owe a duty? Here, a condominium owner sued the lawyer for the condominium association for breach of contract. The court dismissed the case and the Colorado Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal. The Colorado Supreme…
One question which comes up frequently is whether a client can sue his former lawyer for legal malpractice based on what the client believes is an inflated legal bill. A legal fee dispute is essentially a breach of contract case filed by the lawyer against the former client. Here the…
Sandler was a plaintiff in an underlying medical malpractice action in which he alleged that he received substandard care at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital. Advocate retained a standard of care witness who testified against him. Sandler, even though he won the underlying case, sued Advocate’s expert on the ground that…