One of the more obscure rules in the world of legal malpractice is that legal malpractice claims cannot be assigned. The lawyer-client relationship is one of “privity.” It is a direct relationship between the client and the lawyer. Sometimes in litigation, one party requests that the other party assign to…
In Julio Chicas v. Christopher J. Cassar, et al, No. 2023 NY Slip Op 00202, Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department, the plaintiff sued for malpractice claiming that the lawyer defendants failed to sue a tortfeasor. The case was dismissed at the trial level, but the…
In Bei Yang v. Pagan Law Firm, PC, 2022 NY Slip Op 31007(U) Supreme Court, New York County, the plaintiff hired the lawyer for a medical malpractice case. That case settled for $1.3 million. Plaintiff then sued the lawyer for legal malpractice. Plaintiff alleged that the lawyer coerced him into…
In Kozal v. Snyder, 978 N.W.2d 174, the Nebraska Supreme Court held that an attorney did not commit legal malpractice because the purported error was a close call and the law was unsettled. in the underlying case, the attorney represented clients who wished to renew liquor licenses. The Nebraska Supreme…
We are often asked to evaluate potential malpractice claims. Here is what we need to know before we can take your case: (a) What happened? How did things go bad? Why do you believe your lawyer was responsible? In your opinion what was the mistake of the lawyer? (b) When…
In Scully v. Novack & Macey, LLP, 2022 IL App (1st) 210319-U, the Illinois Appellate Court affirmed the dismissal of slander of title claims against the Defendant law firm. The law firm represented some of the parties to a family feud over inherited real estate. During the litigation, the law…
The Second District of the Illinois Appellate Court recently decided Nutter v. Schiller DuCanto & Fleck, 2022 IL App (2d) 210376, in which it held that a legal malpractice claim was barred by res judicata because the lawyer and the client had previously engaged in litigation over the lawyer’s fee petition.…
This is a case of litigation malpractice. In Best Choice Products, Inc. v. Hendrick, Bryant, Nerhod, Sanders & Otis, Ltd, No. COA21-163, the Court of Appeals of North Carolina reinstated a legal malpractice action. Law Firm had represented Best Choice in an underlying case. According to the Complaint, the Law…
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…
One of the most difficult issues in some malpractice litigation is whether the law suit was timely or not. Generally, the plaintiff has two years from the date of discovery of the problem. Each case is different and there is often argument as to when a plaintiff should have become…