John Crane, Inc. (JCI) was a manufacturer of asbestos. It sued plaintiff lawyers who had filed asbestos-related cases against it. JCI was a citizen of Illinois. One of the defendant law firms was located in Texas; the other in Pennsylvania. JCI argued that the law firms established sufficient contacts with…
This is an opinion of the Iowa Supreme Court, holding that a legal malpractice case was time-barred. The case is Skadburg v. Gately, 17-0151. Skadburg was the administrator of an estate and alleged that she hired the defendant to give her legal advice. Skadburg claimed that she used funds from…
The case is Tebbens v. Levin & Conde, 2018 IL App (1st) 170777. Tebbens believed that his former divorce counsel made an error in drafting the marital settlement agreement and drafted an agreement that was not consistent with what the parties had verbally agreed to. This is a tough case…
Judicial estoppel is a doctrine that penalizes a litigant who takes one position in one lawsuit and a contrary position in another lawsuit. In other words, the litigant’s position shifts based on the litigant’s interests in a particular case. Kershaw v. Levy, Tennessee Court of Appeals, No. M2017-01129-COA-R3-CV., is a divorce…
In a legal malpractice case, the plaintiff is required to prove a case-within-a-case or that had the lawyer met the standard of care the plaintiff would have won the case. The case here is Roumbos v. Vazanellis and Thiros & Stracci, Case No. 45S03-1710-CT-635. decided by the Indiana Supreme court on April…
The case is Grayson v. Michael J. Korst, P.C., and Michael J. Korst, 16 c 1297 N. D. Ill. Grayson and his business partner were represented by the Defendants in a transaction in which Grayson and his business partner sold the business (a Domino’s franchise) to a buyer. Grayson alleged…
The case is captioned Camelot, Inc. v. Burke Burns & Pinelli, Ltd., 2017 IL App (2d) 170038-U. The Burke firm had handled shareholder litigation for the plaintiffs. That litigation ended in 2004. Ten years after the representation ended, in 2014, it attempted to serve a lien on certain real property…
This case, KLIGER-WEISS INFOSYSTEMS, INC., Respondent, v. RUSKIN MOSCOU FALTISCHEK, P.C., Appellant. 2015-06404, Index No. 606457/14., 2018 NY Slip Op 01456, was recently decided by the New York Appellate Division. KWI sued its former lawyers for legal malpractice for failing to include a so-called “evergreen” provision in a settlement agreement in…
This is an issue that has become controversial. In most states, a criminal defendant who was convicted cannot sue for legal malpractice unless he establishes “actual innocence” or in New York, a colorable claim of innocence. Roy v. The Law Offices of B. Alan Seidler, P.C., (17 Civ. 5644 S.D.…
The case is Fulton Market Retail Fish, Inc. v. Todtman, Nachamie, Spizz and Johns, 2018 NY Slip Op o1o38 (Appellate Division First Department). Plaintiffs, who sued their lawyers for legal malpractice, were concerned that the same judge who heard the underlying case was going to hear the legal malpractice case.…