Here is an interesting, and well written case from the Supreme Court of West Virginia. 

"SAMANTHA SELLS v. ARNOLD RAY THOMAS, ET AL., No. 32969 (Per Curiam)(November 9, 2006). Plaintiff Samantha Sells appealed an order of the Circuit Court of Mercer County granting summary judgment in favor of defendant Kenneth Chittum, Esq., on plaintiff’s legal malpractice claims. Holding that a genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether the defendant’s failure to pursue an underinsured motorist claim prior to settlement with the tortfeasor caused the plaintiff to suffer a loss constituting legal malpractice, and reversing the grant of summary judgment.

A short blurb from a Kentucky legal blog.  A Kentucky Supreme Court case held that whether a decision by an attorney was a strategic choice is made by the court, and whether it was a reasonable strategic choice is made by the juyy.

"Attorney errors: Equitania Insurance Co. v. Slone & Garrett determined that an attorney can be held liable for errors in judgment and can commit errors in judgment which deviate from the standard of care. Whether such an error is legal malpractice is a question of fact for a jury.

We’ve always wanted to write a headline like that.  Joining Michael Jackson, Michael Bolton and others in the legal malpractice world, James Brown’s ex- [widow?] says shes the victim of legal malpractice.  "Hynie, a backup singer for the Godfather of Soul, said initial annulment papers weren’t filed, the reason the previous marriage was not officially annulled until April, 2004. She says there was "legal malpractice" because her former husband paid lawyers to insure her marriage to Brown was legal" The short article.

Here is a very interesting newspaper report of an ordinary case.  Person in wheelchair falls after leaving an airplanne.  Cause of action = no wheelchair, uneven ground.  What is interesting is that the newspaper reports on the plaintiff’s attorney, and comments that he has no legal malpractice insurance.

Legal Malpractice insurance is required in some states.  Read further for the information.  The Article.

"Tommie Rodgers of Highland Park, Ill. has sued United Airlines (UAL Corp.) in the Circuit Court of Cook County for personal injuries allegedly sustained when the airline failed to provide him with a wheelchair after deplaning at Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport.

According to the complaint filed in November, Rodgers suffers from physical disabilities requiring use of a wheelchair. Rodgers alleges that United breached its duty of care to him by failing to provide a wheelchair for him within a reasonable time, failing to provide a safe area for the plaintiff to await a wheelchair, and failing to provide a safe walking surface upon which the plaintiff would walk and stand while awaiting a wheelchair. "

"Rodgers and Booker are represented by Anthony G. Argeros and Steven J. Morton, both of Chicago. Argeros attended law school at DePaul and works for the firm of Anthony G. Argeros, L.L.C., located at 10 S. LaSalle Street in Chicago.

Argeros specializes in personal injury, workers’ compensation, toxic torts, commercial torts, and medical malpractice cases. He does not carry malpractice coverage himself, according to his most recent filing with the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC).

Here’s a site totally dedicated to appellate reversals. It lists and discusses, often in great detail, every appellate reversal in New York.  One of them deals with the Wilson Elser appellate reversal we discussed a week ago.

Its a judicial gossip site too!  Read their take on the Court of Appeals hopefuls.

 

 

 

The departments in New York are split on this issue.  1st Department:  burden in on defendant and it is an affirmative defense.  2nd Dept and 3d Dept:  Burden in on Plaintiff.  Collectability is the issue of how much could be collected on a hypothetical judgment which would have been obtained.  Here is Day on Torts on the issue.

We  reported on this a couple of weeks ago:  a la carte legal services rather than an entire meal.  Attorney and client agree on a specific service, ususally for a specific fee.  Problem?  The specific service may not be everything necessary.  As an example, attorney agrees to help client in divorce mediation, but does not check/change the pleadings, marshall the exhibits.

What happens when the result is sub-optimal and the client wonders where it all went wrong?  Here is astory on the movement.

 

"Duane Morris, ordered out of a local arbitration proceeding last year after being sued by health care giant McKesson Corp. over a conflict of interest, has filed a motion for a new trial and asked that a permanent injunction against it be lifted.

McKesson contends that because Duane Morris represented one of its subsidiaries in a Pennsylvania bankruptcy case, it is barred from representing an Atlanta couple suing another McKesson subsidiary.

However, in a motion filed last month by Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore partner Emmett J. Bondurant on behalf of Duane Morris (which had represented itself in earlier proceedings), the firm notes that a Pennsylvania bankruptcy case cited as the root of the conflict has been settled, and argues that no attorney-client relationship now exists between Duane Morris and McKesson.

In response, Morris Manning & Martin partners Joseph R. Manning and Larry H. Kunin last month filed a brief on McKesson’s behalf resisting the move, asserting that Duane Morris’ arguments fly in the face of legal rules and precedent, amounting to a "hot-potato" stratagem in which a lawyer abandons one client in favor of another whose business may be more lucrative. " From Law.com