Overlawyered » legal malpractice http://overlawyered.com Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Sun, 27 May 2012 14:01:44 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 “Lawyers Intentionally Inflicting Emotional Distress” http://overlawyered.com/2012/05/lawyers-intentionally-inflicting-emotional-distress/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lawyers-intentionally-inflicting-emotional-distress http://overlawyered.com/2012/05/lawyers-intentionally-inflicting-emotional-distress/#comments Tue, 22 May 2012 17:45:56 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=29891 Imagine how it would change the practice of litigation if lawyers could be held answerable for intentionally inflicting emotional distress on opponents, witnesses or third parties. Of course that’s not going to happen, since our legal profession is quite good at immunizing itself from exposure to liability for the same sorts of injuries that it [...]

“Lawyers Intentionally Inflicting Emotional Distress” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

]]> Imagine how it would change the practice of litigation if lawyers could be held answerable for intentionally inflicting emotional distress on opponents, witnesses or third parties. Of course that’s not going to happen, since our legal profession is quite good at immunizing itself from exposure to liability for the same sorts of injuries that it sues over when inflicted by others. In this SSRN paper (via Robinette, TortsProf), Alex Long of the University of Tennessee proposes a presumption that lawyers’ behavior is “extreme and outrageous,” a precondition of IIED liability, if they could get disbarred for it.

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“Lawyers Intentionally Inflicting Emotional Distress” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

]]> http://overlawyered.com/2012/05/lawyers-intentionally-inflicting-emotional-distress/feed/ 1 Connecticut: court-appointed probate lawyers seek immunity http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/connecticut-court-appointed-probate-lawyers-seek-immunity/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=connecticut-court-appointed-probate-lawyers-seek-immunity http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/connecticut-court-appointed-probate-lawyers-seek-immunity/#comments Tue, 25 Oct 2011 15:10:16 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25269 The Connecticut Supreme Court is being asked to rule that lawyers and conservators appointed by probate judges are immune from being sued by those they represent. The case arose “because of the abuse that Daniel Gross, an elderly New York man, suffered during 2005 and 2006 at the hands of a Waterbury probate court after [...]

Connecticut: court-appointed probate lawyers seek immunity is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

]]> The Connecticut Supreme Court is being asked to rule that lawyers and conservators appointed by probate judges are immune from being sued by those they represent. The case arose “because of the abuse that Daniel Gross, an elderly New York man, suffered during 2005 and 2006 at the hands of a Waterbury probate court after he became sick while visiting his daughter.” Gross was placed in a nursing home on conservator’s orders, a decision eventually reversed by a court. [Rick Green, Hartford Courant]

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Connecticut: court-appointed probate lawyers seek immunity is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/connecticut-court-appointed-probate-lawyers-seek-immunity/feed/ 1 Calmer = more conscientious? http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/calmer-more-conscientious/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=calmer-more-conscientious http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/calmer-more-conscientious/#comments Tue, 18 Oct 2011 05:37:50 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25191 Lawyers who practice stress reduction techniques want discounts from their malpractice insurers [ABA Journal] Tweet Tags: legal malpractice

Calmer = more conscientious? is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

]]> Lawyers who practice stress reduction techniques want discounts from their malpractice insurers [ABA Journal]

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Calmer = more conscientious? is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/calmer-more-conscientious/feed/ 4 “Law Firms Are Tough to Sue” http://overlawyered.com/2010/01/law-firms-are-tough-to-sue/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=law-firms-are-tough-to-sue http://overlawyered.com/2010/01/law-firms-are-tough-to-sue/#comments Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:09:11 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=15542 In case you didn’t know that. [Zach Lowe, AmLaw Daily] Tweet Tags: legal malpractice, sanctions

“Law Firms Are Tough to Sue” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

]]> In case you didn’t know that. [Zach Lowe, AmLaw Daily]

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“Law Firms Are Tough to Sue” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

]]> http://overlawyered.com/2010/01/law-firms-are-tough-to-sue/feed/ 0 Law firm’s typo http://overlawyered.com/2009/07/law-firms-typo/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=law-firms-typo http://overlawyered.com/2009/07/law-firms-typo/#comments Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:48:39 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=12607 Will it cost its real estate client tens of millions? [NY Times via Above the Law] More: NY Post and Above the Law again. Tweet Tags: legal malpractice

Law firm’s typo is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

]]> Will it cost its real estate client tens of millions? [NY Times via Above the Law] More: NY Post and Above the Law again.

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Law firm’s typo is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

]]> http://overlawyered.com/2009/07/law-firms-typo/feed/ 2 Update: court dismisses Kremen v. Morelli http://overlawyered.com/2008/09/update-court-dismisses-kremen-v-morelli/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=update-court-dismisses-kremen-v-morelli http://overlawyered.com/2008/09/update-court-dismisses-kremen-v-morelli/#comments Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:34:15 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=7569 We covered this legal malpractice claim last year, with particular attention to the defendant law firm’s argument that it didn’t matter whether the case was handled flawlessly since it was obviously low on merit in the first place. Now a New York appellate court has reversed the trial court and dismissed the action on other [...]

Update: court dismisses Kremen v. Morelli is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

]]> We covered this legal malpractice claim last year, with particular attention to the defendant law firm’s argument that it didn’t matter whether the case was handled flawlessly since it was obviously low on merit in the first place. Now a New York appellate court has reversed the trial court and dismissed the action on other grounds. (Scott Kreppein, Sept. 17).

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Update: court dismisses Kremen v. Morelli is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

]]> http://overlawyered.com/2008/09/update-court-dismisses-kremen-v-morelli/feed/ 0 Med-mal: Massachusetts adopts “loss of a chance” doctrine http://overlawyered.com/2008/07/med-mal-massachusetts-adopts-loss-of-a-chance-doctrine/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=med-mal-massachusetts-adopts-loss-of-a-chance-doctrine http://overlawyered.com/2008/07/med-mal-massachusetts-adopts-loss-of-a-chance-doctrine/#comments Sat, 26 Jul 2008 12:05:09 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=7321 In a key victory for plaintiffs and their lawyers, the Massachusetts Supreme Court has for the first time adopted the “loss of a chance” doctrine, which allows plaintiffs to recover money without having to show that it was more likely than not that the charged medical negligence made the difference in their recovery or survival. [...]

Med-mal: Massachusetts adopts “loss of a chance” doctrine is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

]]> In a key victory for plaintiffs and their lawyers, the Massachusetts Supreme Court has for the first time adopted the “loss of a chance” doctrine, which allows plaintiffs to recover money without having to show that it was more likely than not that the charged medical negligence made the difference in their recovery or survival. (Denise Lavoie, “Doctor held liable for a ‘loss of chance’”, AP/Boston Globe, Jul. 24). When Medical Economics surveyed the field two years ago, they found that about half the states had accepted the more liberal doctrine, which runs counter to the Anglo-American “more likely than not” prerequisite for establishing causation. More on the inexact and contradictory standards used in such cases here.

Readers of this site will not be the least surprised to learn that American courts have shown little or no interest in extending the “loss of a chance” doctrine for the benefit of plaintiffs in legal malpractice cases filed against attorneys whose inattention might have (but probably didn’t) deprive their clients of a favorable outcome in court proceedings.

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Med-mal: Massachusetts adopts “loss of a chance” doctrine is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

]]> http://overlawyered.com/2008/07/med-mal-massachusetts-adopts-loss-of-a-chance-doctrine/feed/ 1 July 20 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2008/07/july-20-roundup-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=july-20-roundup-2 http://overlawyered.com/2008/07/july-20-roundup-2/#comments Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:51:46 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=7292 Judge Henry Lackey, who went to feds to report bribe attempt by Dickie Scruggs associate, gets award and standing ovations at Mississippi bar convention, says he was just doing a judge’s job [NMC/Folo] Related: should Ole Miss Chancellor Robert Khayat have used official university stationery for his letter pleading leniency for chum/ benefactor Scruggs? [Daily [...]

July 20 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

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  • Judge Henry Lackey, who went to feds to report bribe attempt by Dickie Scruggs associate, gets award and standing ovations at Mississippi bar convention, says he was just doing a judge’s job [NMC/Folo]

  • Related: should Ole Miss Chancellor Robert Khayat have used official university stationery for his letter pleading leniency for chum/ benefactor Scruggs? [Daily Mississippian and editorial via YallPolitics, continuing coverage at Folo; earlier]

  • Stephen Dubner: if lawyer/subscriber can sue Raleigh News & Observer over perceived decline in its quality, who’s next? [NYT/Freakonomics blog, earlier]

  • Maneuvering over retrial of Kentucky fen-phen defendants Gallion and Cunningham [Lexington Herald-Leader]

  • A Fieger sideshow: though acquitted in recent campaign laundering prosecution, controversial lawyer fared less well in lawsuit against Michigan AG Michael Cox; Sixth Circuit tossed that suit and upheld order that Fieger fork over attorney fees to Michigan Supreme Court Justice Stephen Markman over subjecting the justice to unfounded vilification [ABA Journal; fixed typo on Circuit]

  • Citing long history of frivolous litigation, federal judge in central Texas fines disbarred lawyer Charles Edward Lincoln and his client and bans Lincoln from bringing any more federal suits [SE Texas Record]

  • Faced with $18 million legal-malpractice jury verdict, Indiana labor law firm stays in business by agreeing to make token payment, then gang up on its liability insurer for the rest [Indianapolis Business Journal, Ketzenberger/Indy Star via ABA Journal]

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July 20 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

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