Here is a law school problem:  Mom, Dad and Kid are riding along and are hit from the side by another car.  How many conflicts of interest can you find in this picture?  None of the attorneys representing plaintiffs, defendants, counterclaimants or counterclaimant defendants found a single problem, but the court determined that there were too many conflicts between mother driver, father owner, daughter passanger, mother counterclaim defendant, etc, to count.  At one point, the mother was arguing that her daughter had no serious physical injury as defined by the insurance law.

Here is the case cite:  Dorsainvil v. Parker, 3629/04
Decided: November 21, 2006

KINGS COUNTY

As I was reading this, a song about being lonely down in San Antonio came on the radio.  The coincidence was too strong not to write about it.  If you are in the field, here is CLE on legal malpractice.  The announcement.

OK, so here is the story.  Doctor and family is in a car crash.  Doctor and family successfully sue for $10 million.  However, he now sues his attorney because it all sort of  got frittered away.  There was the limit on the other car’s coverage, there were the trust deposits for the kids, there was the bad faith litigation.  Analysis?  The attorney did a strong job at trial, and a poor job at communicating the complexities of trial and judgment law.  Now comes the legal malpractice litigation.  The story.

We have never heard of this before, but apparently its a movement.  Unbundled legal services are proceeding under a Mass program where an attorney represents a client in only one appearance, or for a small, singular issue, without taking over representation as a whole.  We have reservations about what happens when the case goes sour.  The article.

The "Anti-Divorce’" attorney has posted a site which trolls for legal malpractice cases.  His pitch?  He sues attorneys who settle divorce cases without the client’s permission, when the client really wants to stay married.  Don’t clients have to allocute to the settlement in open court?  Anyway, the site.

This Legal Profession Blog gives the latest update on mandatory legal malpractice and the status of its reqirement across the USA.  The blog blurb.

Here is an example of how attorney fee cases lead to a plethora of work, trouble, litigation, and a very slim chnace of making any money.  Attorney represents client in California case.  Client does not pay $ 4000 in legal fees.  Attorney sues client for $ 4000.  Client has a NY attorney friend, who will defend him, but needs to be admitted pro haec vice. Why the client needed a NY attorney to come to California is unclear.  Client will not be deposed until NY attorney comes to California, and his case is dismissed.  Attorney sues for malicious prosecution, and client counters with an anti-SLAPP suit, which here is undefined.  SLAPP is a California statute which allows dismissal of retalitory lawsuits.

Now clients loses the anti-SLAPP.  How much work and risk has gone on for this original $ 4000?  Read the article.

Here is a story about a Georgia attorney who has long specialized in legal malpractice litigation, both plaintiff’s and defendant’s.  Here is Frank Beltran’s story.