The decision doesn’t tell us in what capacity the attorneys represented the client, but they are now in suit over legal fees, with a legal malpractice counterclaim. As we read this case, we wondered whether the time and effort was worth it. Will there ever be a collection of fees?

in Bender, Jenson & Silverstein, …

How often it happens that plaintiff learns of mistakes his prior counsel made, but only years later.  Years is the operative word here, as the statute of limitations for legal malpractice is 3 years.  So what happens when the attorney lets plaintiff’s claim lapse, more than three years goes by, and plaintiff then learns of…

In this particular case it is a mortgage broker’s work, and the attorney may not get (or keep) legal fees for the work.  In Patricia Dell’Olio, Claimant v. Law Office of Charles S. Spinardi P.C., Defendant, SCR 1199/10;  Civil Court, Richmond County;  we see on way in which an attorney who is doing transactional work…

Client selection is a fine art, and one in which every attorney must apprentice.  Select the right client – with a good cause of action and of a sane temperament – and all may go well.  Select the wrong client, and a world of abuse and possibly legal malpractice litigation may follow.

Breytman v Schechter …

Billing disputes between attorneys and clients fuel the legal malpractice cycle.  Attorney seeks to enforce a bill, client responds with a legal malpractice claim, and the litigation clock starts.  Each side seeks and looks for shortcuts, or checkmates.  One checkmate, which may cut off a legal malpractice action at the beginning is the principal of…

Magistrate Judge James C. Francis writes in  Brooks Banker,  v.Esperanza Health Systems, Ltd.,  05 Civ. 4115 (DAB) (JCF):

"Brooks Banker, an attorney, brings this action against the defendants, his former clients, for unpaid fees. Mr. Banker now moves pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for summary judgment on…

Clients often believe that their attorney was "bought off" and sometimes stretch the facts to fit a conspiracy theory.  Most of the time there is simply no institutional way that "buying off" could even have happened.  Sometimes we are non-plussed at the actions of attorneys.  We wonder, in this case, why the attorney didn’t tell…

The Redskins!  6 Flags!  Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft !  Legal malpractice cases do not get much higher visibility than this case. Nate Raymond of the  The New York Law Journal reports that  "Redskins owner Daniel Snyder has sued Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft for $13 million over advice it gave on an investment bank’s fee during a…