Part and parcel of the Litchfield Malone McDonald team’s professional liability practice is the defense of attorneys accused of malpractice. The LMM team understands the nuances implicated with defending a ‘case-within-a-case’ and working to obtain results efficiently. Our focus is not only on delivering successful resolutions, but also being conscientious of the reputational issues involved with legal malpractice allegations. Given the nature of legal malpractice actions, our approach is one of partnership with our clients to craft strategies and defenses to leverage our client’s knowledge and expertise in the underlying legal field at issue.
Our clients come to us for our no-nonsense approach to litigation and our ability to efficiently adapt our approach based on our clients’ needs and objectives. In many instances, we are able to keep our clients out of litigation by facilitating early resolutions or through other proactive means consistent with our clients’ aims. If resolution is not possible, LMM has the resources and reputation to deliver results at trial, and our track record reflects that fact.
Michael represented a highly experienced attorney against a multimillion-dollar legal malpractice lawsuit. In what was a very challenging case involving admitted liability and significant claimed damages, Mike focused on attacking the plaintiff’s claims in expert discovery, through aggressive pre-trial motions to exclude key evidence and witnesses, and through effective jury selection to posture the case for a remarkably successful resolution on the third day of trial.
Steve represented a probate law firm in a legal malpractice action arising out of the winding up of a significant estate in Northern California. After one of the beneficiaries wrongfully withdrew substantially all of the assets from the estate account, the estate filed suit alleging that the firm failed to take adequate precautions to block transactions from the account. After filing a Motion for Summary Judgment based on a statute of limitations defense and securing admissions in deposition showing that the banking institutions failed to follow their own security protocols with respect to blocked accounts, the matter settled on favorable terms for the insured law firm.
Liam defended an attorney accused of malpractice relating to the accusations of procedural and statute of limitations errors alleged to have been committed during multiple bankruptcy proceedings. Through significant research, Mr. Malone was able to uncover third-party witnesses and convinced them to provide sworn statements that undercut the plaintiff’s accusations. Using those sworn statements as evidence in a summary judgment motion, once that motion was filed, Mr. Malone secured a settlement of low five-figures, representing 2% of the damages being claimed.
Liam defended a client against allegations of malpractice regarding an underlying eminent domain action involving a gas station property that was taken as part of a larger project to expand highway 101 between Petaluma and Santa Rosa, California. As part of the action, Mr. Malone simultaneously prosecuted a claim against the Plaintiff for unpaid legal fees owed to Mr. Malone’s client. Through multiple rounds of mediation and negotiation, Mr. Malone was able to resolve the matter with the Plaintiff completely foregoing recovery of the seven-figure malpractice claim, while recovering a substantial portion of the payment claim for Mr. Malone’s client.
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