Category: Legal Malpractice

Legal Malpractice / Real Estate Professionals

Real Estate Transactions Pose the Greatest Risk of Attorney Malpractice

According to a recent study, real estate transactions pose the most risk to attorneys of a malpractice claim.  In its annual survey, the American Bar Association reported a higher percentage of professional liability claims stemming from real estate dealings than any other area.  Over the past several years, plaintiff personal injury claims topped the list, but to the joy of the plaintiff’s bar and the chagrin of real estate professionals, that trend is apparently changing.

The top three types of activity leading to the majority …

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Legal Malpractice / Risk Management

Rutgers: Don’t Look at Me…My Lawyer Made Me Do It

As is so often the case, with mounting pressure and criticism comes finger-pointing. In the midst of a well-publicized scandal, Rutgers University is now suggesting that poor advice from its outside counsel led to a series of infamous decisions regarding its former basketball coach.  According to reports, as Rutgers’ athletic director Tim Pernetti resigned Friday amid the scandal over men’s basketball coach Mike Rice’s unorthodox practices, he blamed the school administration for following a “process” that allowed Rice to stay on-board. With its back …

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Ethics / Legal Malpractice

When Professional Misconduct = Unfair Trade Practices

The California Court of Appeals recently concluded that an attorney’s professional malpractice and ethical violations may give rise to liability for unfair trade practices.  In the underlying dispute, attorney Martin Guajardo, the sole shareholder in his own law firm, sold his practice because he faced disciplinary action brought by the state bar.  Although Attorney Guajardo ultimately resigned from the bar, he continued to practice law following the sale of his firm.  The People of the State of California filed a complaint against Guajardo, …

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Legal Malpractice

My Lips Are Sealed: No Liability For Attorney’s Non-Disclosure to Non-Clients

Let’s start with the basic principle: an attorney’s duty runs exclusively to the client apart from limited circumstances of fraud when an attorney may be liable to the client’s adversary. The question remains whether an attorney’s decision to keep her mouth shut – i.e. not to disclose key information to the other side – constitutes actionable fraud.  According to a recent decision by the Texas Appeals Court, the fact that an attorney did not disclose information to her adversary does not constitute actionable misconduct.

In …

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Legal Malpractice

Attorney Sanctioned for Frivolous Claim

You are what you eat – but for lawyers, you are what you sign, file, verify or plead.  An attorney in Pittsburgh just learned this lesson the hard way and is now $20,000 lighter in the wallet.  The failure to properly investigate his client’s “frivolous” gun malfunction claim has landed Attorney Jason Schiffman with the hefty sanction after the judge disagreed with the attorney’s plea that he had reasonably relied on his client.

In Ellis v. Beemiller, Plaintiff Regis Ellis alleged that …

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Legal Malpractice

Vague Settlement Agreement May Result in Malpractice Claim

Reaching a settlement agreement is supposed to conclude litigation, right?  Well the failure to draft a clear settlement agreement may result in serious repercussions for client and attorney.  The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that a plaintiff is entitled to attorneys’ fees and costs due to a vague offer of judgment. 

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68, a defendant may serve an opposing party with “an offer to allow judgment on specified terms, with the costs then accrued.”  If the offer …

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Ethics / Legal Malpractice

A Lesson in Ethical Attorney Billing

A lawyer stands at the gates of heaven and pleads his case to St. Peter. “I’m much too young to die. I’m only 48.” St. Peter responds, raising an eyebrow: “Forty-eight? Not according to your time sheets.”

Unfortunately, some attorneys give the rest of the profession a bad name for abusing the billable hour system.  Take for example the sole practitioner in Massachusetts, Attorney Derek Beaulieu, who was recently suspended from the bar for four years for having billed more than 3600 hours annually to …

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Legal Malpractice / Risk Management

Attorneys in the Crosshairs: Limits of the Litigation Privilege

A recent decision helps to define the limitations of the absolute litigation/judicial privilege and serves as a reminder that attorneys are not immune from defamation suits.  Notably, attorneys may be on the wrong end of a defamation claim for out-of-court statements concerning ongoing litigation.  The litigation privilege and the judicial privilege provide an absolute defense from defamation suits relating to certain in-court statements.  However, the protections may not apply outside of formal court proceedings according to a recent decision by the Florida Supreme Court.…

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Legal Malpractice / Risk Management

ABA says Attorney-to-In-House Attorney Consultation should be Privileged

In a recently published amicus opinion, the ABA took a stand for its position that the attorney-client privilege should protect from disclosure communications between an attorney and her in-house counsel, even if the two attorneys are colleagues.  In most scenarios, inter-office communications are discoverable.  Privilege may not apply when attorneys consult amongst themselves.  On the other end of the spectrum, consultation between client and outside counsel is usually protected from disclosure.  However, the ABA’s recent amicus opinion focuses on the narrow situation when an …

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