An appellate court in New York held that a criminal defendant was entitled to compensatory damages against his attorney arising from negligent representation during his criminal trial. In Dombrowski v. Bulson, the client was convicted of two felonies and a misdemeanor and sentenced to four years in prison. An appeal…
The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit has affirmed the judgment of a Kansas District Court finding that a legal malpractice case was barred by the statute of limitations. In Elder v. Herlocker, an attorney had represented a father, and allegedly his two sons, with respect to…
An appellate court in California has affirmed a motion for summary judgment granted in favor of an attorney in a legal malpractice action. In Lewellen v. Phillips, a woman alleged that her lawyer committed malpractice for inadequately representing her at a settlement conference in a property dispute. At the conference,…
After reviewing an interlocutory order, a Pennsylvania appellate court has ruled in favor of a client in a legal malpractice action. In Epstein v. Saul Ewing, LLP., a client sued his former attorney for negligently handling his appeal of an adverse judgment. The underlying case involved a fee dispute between…
A California appellate court has affirmed a jury verdict for an attorney in a legal malpractice claim. In Tong v Rucker a client alleged that her new attorney negligently represented her in a malpractice suit against her old lawyer. In the first case, the client had attempted to back out…
The Appellate Court of Connecticut has affirmed a trial court judgment for an attorney in a legal malpractice claim. In Law Offices of Robert K Walsh v Natarajan, the attorney had sued his former client for his fees representing her in a marital dissolution proceeding. The client had counterclaimed for…
A Florida District Court of Appeal has reversed a lower court’s denial of an attorney’s motion seeking dismissal of a legal malpractice action due to improper venue. The client, a Tennessee corporation, was a defendant in a federal court action in Orlando, Florida. The client had hired an attorney to…
The Florida Court of Appeals has ruled that a lower court dismissal of a legal malpractice action was properly dismissed, but the dismissal should have been without prejudice, permitting the plaintiffs to re-file the action. A corporation had sued its attorneys for negligence and added a consultant as an additional…
The Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court recently decided that a successor-in-interest’s legal malpractice claim did not relate back to an action filed 13 years earlier by the predecessor’s chief partner. The original action arose from a 1996 property refinance. An attorney with the law firm, which had…
The District of Columbia Court of Appeals has affirmed a trial court’s ruling decision that the negligence of a law firm prevented a client from prevailing in an employment discrimination case. The client sued his former attorneys for legal malpractice when they failed to follow a judge’s order to respond…