In Legal Malpractice cases, the subtext is consistently one of betrayal, or at best a shortcoming.  Potential clients report that their attorney misled them, or abandoned them, or simply did not do the work.  These claims are often true, to a shocking and heartrending degree.

Here, in this story, not only is there the typical legal malpractice milieu, there is also the unrelated sad back story.

"Thomas Prousalis Jr. and Gayle Prousalis sued Cohen Milstein, along with partners Herbert Milstein and Lisa Mezzetti, in 2003, alleging the defendants had botched the Prousalises’ underlying case against their stockbroker. According to the complaint, Cohen Milstein failed to file witness or exhibit lists in that case, and withdrew as counsel on the morning of an arbitration hearing. As a consequence, the complaint says the Prousalises were forced to abandon their case.

The Prousalises were seeking $25 million in compensatory damages, and $100 million in punitive damages against Cohen Milstein. On Thursday, the jury awarded $500,000 to Gayle Prousalis, but did not find in favor of Thomas Prousalis. Thomas Prousalis, a former Washington lawyer, found himself in trouble with the law shortly after filing the complaint against Cohen Milstein. He pleaded guilty to mail, wire and securities fraud in 2004, and was disbarred in the District of Columbia the same year.