Lawyers handle cases for people who are sometimes desperate.  While it may little matter whether a large corporations loses a million dollars in a deal, many times an attorney deals with much more dire circumstances for the client.  They may have lost a life’s savings; children may suffer.

This tragic story involves an attorney who overspent, and could not keep up.  His solution was to steal from the escrow account.  The victims have lost $ 750,000.  The attorney shot himself, after the FBI became involved.

The insurer has successfully disclaimed coverage.  The many victims, including the attorney’s wife and children are not so lucky. "A legal malpractice insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify a Cumberland County, Pa., lawyer who allegedly stole more than $780,000 from his clients and gambled much of it away before committing suicide when he learned that he was under investigation, a federal judge has ruled.

As U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III described it in his 38-page opinion in Westport Insurance Corp. v. Hanft & Knight, the case involved "the tragic circumstances that resulted from a lawyer’s double life."