Missouri law firm to pay $800K to settle lawyer’s suit 
Published: November 29, 2012
Tags: legal malpractice, Legal Malpractice Monitor, malicious prosecution, Missouri, statute of limitations, wrongful death
The St. Louis, Mo. law firm of Brown & James has agreed to pay $800,000 to settle a malicious prosecution lawsuit filed by attorney Daniel P. Finney Jr.
Divorce lawyer sued for illegal electronic surveillance
Published: October 4, 2012
Tags: divorce, Electronic Communications Privacy Act, ethics, legal malpractice, Legal Malpractice Monitor, privacy, surveillance, wiretap
An Ohio lawyer is being sued in federal court for allegedly conspiring to use evidence acquired through illegal electronic surveillance to win her client’s divorce case.
Benchmarks: Firm washes its hands of expelled member for $20K
By:
Pat Murphy
Published: October 3, 2012
Tags: attorneys, expulsion of member, Legal Malpractice Monitor, operating agreement, partnership agreement, professional limited liability company
David L. Martindale was given the boot after he openly questioned his Mississippi law firm’s handling of a big-time personal injury case.
Yesterday, a state court ruled that the expelled member of the firm was entitled to no more than the $19,800 check he was handed on his way out the door.
Law firm’s malpractice insurance improperly rescinded
Published: October 2, 2012
Tags: legal malpractice, Legal Malpractice Monitor, malpractice insurance
A law firm’s malpractice insurance should not have been rescinded based on the imputation of knowledge of one partner’s misconduct to an innocent partner who filled out the policy’s renewal application, the New Hampshire Supreme Court has ruled in reversing judgment.
Court gives lawyer probation
Published: October 1, 2012
Tags: attorneys, domestic violence, Legal Malpractice Monitor, license suspension, Missouri
The Missouri Supreme Court has suspended the law license of Cape Girardeau, Mo. attorney Scott Reynolds, who pleaded guilty to third-degree domestic assault two years ago.
Solo attorney grapples with employee’s actions
By:
Scott Lauck
Published: September 27, 2012
Tags: attorney discipline, embezzlement, law firm, Legal Malpractice Monitor, office staff, support staff
Attorney Kevin Jamison in his law office in Gladstone, Mo. Behind him are portraits of his great-great grandfather, his father and his son, who served in the Civil War, World War II and Afghanistan, respectively. Photo by Scott Lauck.
In 2010, Kansas City, Mo., solo practitioner Kevin L. Jamison fell headlong into the ultimate nightmare for a small law office.
Jamison fired his office manager of 10 years after she refused to turn over the password to her desk computer. He soon learned that his client trust accounts had been overdrawn. His long-trusted employee, he alleges, had been embezzling from him for years.
Md. top court declines to impose sanctions against lawyer
By:
Kristi Tousignant
Published: September 26, 2012
Tags: attorney fraud, deceptive business practices, fraud, Legal Malpractice Monitor, Maryland
Maryland’s highest court has refused to impose any sanctions on a Baltimore-based lawyer whose stepmother accused him of deceit and fraud in handling the estate of his deceased father, who was a famed night club operator and real estate developer.
Va. court nixes changes in lawyer ad rules
By:
Peter Vieth
Published: September 25, 2012
Tags: advertising, attorney advertising, lawyer advertising, Legal Malpractice Monitor, regulations, Virginia
The Virginia Supreme Court has rejected proposed reforms in lawyer advertising regulations, refusing to relax requirements for disclaimers on claims about case results and tightening limits on the use of words such as “expert” and “specialist.”
Benchmarks: Lawyer suspended for ‘overzealous advocacy’
By:
Pat Murphy
Published: September 20, 2012
Tags: attorney misconduct, frivolous litigation, Legal Malpractice Monitor, Rules of Professional Conduct
More is not always better. That point was driven home yesterday to a California lawyer who managed to bury three separate courts under mountains of paper in his bid to recover $600,000 he lost to a Ponzi scheme.
Lawyers paying non-lawyer colleagues
By:
Thomas Spahn
Published: September 20, 2012
Tags: law firm, Legal Malpractice Monitor, legal staff, paralegals, salary, support staff
The Wisconsin Supreme Court held recently that a law firm could pay a paralegal a percentage of the gross proceeds from cases on which the paralegal worked. The Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation had argued that the compensation plan violated the prohibition on sharing legal fees with a non-lawyer. (In re Weigel, 817 N.W.2d 835 (Wis. 2012)).
The opinion represents the latest chapter in a long‑running debate about how lawyers can compensate their non-lawyer colleagues. This has been a contentious issue, and the decision in the Wisconsin case highlights the continuing controversy.
