Here is a case of a builder-defendant who was successfully sued both in his corporate and individual capacity after negligently building a house. He sued his defense attorneys after losing. One basis was that they never moved to have the case dismissed against him individually, when his corporation was solvent and not fraudulent. The NJ Appellate Division reversed summary judgment against him on this basis. Details.

Anthony Lin in the New York Law Journal reports that Supreme Court, New York has dismissed a legal malpractice suit based upon the Sophisticated Plaintiff doctrine. Where the Plaintiff is as well versed in some speciality as is the attorney, then the attorney will not be held to deviate from good practice when making decisions based upon that knowledge. Continue Reading Sophisticated Plaintiff defense in Legal Malpractice

Anthony E. Davis of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLPm is a well known practitioner in the Professional Responsibility field. He is the past president of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers, a columnist in the New York Law Journal and an expert witness.

He writes today on the question of retired attorneys in New York who certify that they are retired, usually in order to avoid paying bi-annual fees to the UCA. He notes that the decision to permit retired attorneys to use a professional letterhead creates potential legal malpractice problems. The column appears in today’s NYLJ.

Anthony Lin, who frequently reports on Legal Malpractice cases in New York, writes today in The New York Law Journal about a legal malpractice case arising from divorce which was dismissed. It appears that the legal malpractice was coupled with a divorce attorney fee case. The divorce firm, Franklin, Weinrib, Rudell & Vassallo, PC represented the wife in a high profile divorce. Whether there was a settlement agreement reached over lunch at La Cote Basque, and a deviation by her attorney in failing to enforce the agreement was a central point in Justice Beeler’s decision. The wife was represented by Stuart J. Moskovitz, who called the decision “outrageous.” Attorney was represented by Philip Touitou Hinshaw & Clubertson, a firm that writes about legal malpractice and does defense work.

Here is an Illinois appellate case reported by the Illinois Legal Malpractice Blog arising from an action against General Motors where “the plaintiffs sued their former lawyers for malpractice, alleging that the lawyers were negligent when they failed to sue General Motors for strict liability of a manufacturing defect in a car the plaintiffs were in an accident in. After the defendants argued that proximate causation and damages elements could not be established because the plaintiffs’ successor lawyer successfully sued GM for strict liability the trial court dismissed the plaintiffs’ complaint, and on December 19, 2005, the Illinois Appellate Court affirmed this ruling.” Continue Reading Illinois GM Legal Malpractice and Proximate Cause

Here’s an interesting report from Hinshaw & Culbertson, who write extensively about legal malpractice. It reports a Florida case in which a legal malpractice cause of action was transferred during a bankruptcy case. This report is similar to our 12/30/05 note on transfer of legal malpractice rights in Texas.