Category: Legal Malpractice

Under Rule 1.6(c)(4) of the Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct — and similar rules in many states — a lawyer may disclose confidential client information “to the extent the lawyer reasonably believes necessary” to defend against criminal charges, civil claims, or disciplinary actions arising from allegations of misconduct.

In other words, if a client sues for malpractice or accuses her former counsel of misconduct, the lawyer can reveal confidential communications — but only those strictly necessary to defend themselves.

This is not, of course, an invitation to expose our client’s …

As recently reported by Law360, a Pennsylvania lawyer and a litigation funder are facing racketeering and malpractice claims. A Pennsylvania federal judge recently declined to dismiss claims brought by a client accusing his former lawyer of engaging in a conspiracy to improperly charge him inflated legal fees to cover high-interest litigation loans.

In the underlying matter, the client/plaintiff retained the lawyer to represent him in a lawsuit claiming he suffered neurological issues stemming from a titanium medical implant after installing a pole with a …

A quirky reality of litigation is that the amount of recoverable dollars often dictates the strategy and approach. Maybe no one said it better than Biggie: “mo money, mo problems.” Especially in the context of an insured defendant, the applicable policy limits and coverage terms play a large role in shaping the litigation.

In a recent legal malpractice dispute, a plaintiff alleges that his former counsel misguided him during litigation — an underlying legal malpractice claim — by failing to appreciate the impact …

FACTS OF THE UNDERLYING ACTION

On September 6, 2024, an action was commenced in New York State Supreme Court, New York County, on behalf of Steven Nerayoff, an attorney and alleged crypto founder, who, when working for the Ethereum blockchain, allegedly “invented the ‘Utility Token’ and a structured method for selling these new digital assets to the public in what became known as the ‘Initial Coin Offering’ (‘ICO’) and created the first ‘Security Token’ or ‘Tokenization’ and Security Token Offering (‘STO’).” Complaint ¶3. Nerayoff’s …

The Superior Court of Pennsylvania recently affirmed the summary judgment dismissal of a multi-million-dollar legal malpractice case against a Pennsylvania attorney defended by Goldberg Segalla.

The victory — secured by partner Seth Laver with assistance from partner Daniel Strick and attorney Joseph Ross — was particularly significant in that it involved complex, underlying issues and was heard in the often-difficult Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.

The dispute stemmed from an injury suffered by a non-party who for 14 years was employed as a hotel waiter …

Stellar defense work by Goldberg Segalla partner Christopher F. Lyon and associate Matthew H. Feinberg secured in New York Supreme Court the dismissal of a claim brought against our client in a legal malpractice action.

The case was filed by a plaintiff who sued her former attorneys for allegedly failing to add in a timely manner a volunteer ambulance company to a lawsuit she initiated following a car accident. The plaintiff was treated for injuries at the scene and during that treatment, EMS — in …

Uh oh. Surveyed legal malpractice insurance carriers pointed to sympathetic jurors and aversion to trying cases as possible explanations for an “all-time high” in claims payouts despite similar year-over-year volume. According to data compiled by Ames & Gough, factors such as runaway verdicts and litigation financing have contributed to the rise in settlements. Those factors are among several accounting for a concept most readers are undoubtedly all too familiar with: social inflation, the increase of claims costs beyond the economic inflation so often in the …

That’s the question on the minds of many in the legal malpractice community after a noteworthy decision in Pennsylvania.  

It’s probably reasonable to assume — at least from the defense standpoint — that the success rate of a statute of limitations (SOL) defense to a legal malpractice claim is virtually zero. This may be more so in some jurisdictions, especially those that permit a litigant to pursue tort as well as a breach of contract theory in these scenarios.

A dual theory approach may …