Energy Company Can’t Overturn Attorney’s Fee Award

Lawyer Gets Public Admonition for Misrepresentations

By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 13, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Attorneys, Judge Robert B. King

A New York lawyer with 33 years’ experience and an “AV rating,” who acted as court-appointed counsel in successfully appealing his client’s sentence for wire fraud and identity theft, has received a public admonition from the 4th Circuit for multiple misrepresentations in his representation of his client on appeal, including an assertion that the trial [...]

Swedish Law Firm’s Suit Time-Barred

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 30, 2011
Tags: Attorneys, Judge Liam O'Grady, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Swedish law firm that sued the company that hired it for legal representation in a 2007 dispute loses on summary judgment because its negligence claim is barred by Virginia’s two-year statute of limitations, says an Alexandria U.S. District Court. Defendant eSCRUB Systems Inc. hired plaintiff Andersson Gustafsson Advokatbyra KB to resolve a dispute in [...]

‘Good Will’ Damages OK for Malpractice Suit

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 17, 2011
Tags: Attorneys, Judge Melvin R. Hughes Jr., Richmond Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts

A financial services holding company that is suing defendant law firm for legal malpractice after the business had to defend civil actions by third parties and an action by the Securities & Exchange Commission has stated a viable claim for damages even though it has never made a profit; a Richmond Circuit Court says plaintiff [...]

Expert Needed for Legal Malpractice Claims

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 17, 2011
Tags: Attorneys, Judge Claude M. Hilton, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A restaurant worker who lost his claim alleging immigration-based employment discrimination also loses his suit alleging legal malpractice by his former attorney and law firm, as he has failed to present the necessary expert evidence to support his claims, an Alexandria U.S. District Court says. Plaintiff sued defendants Immigration Reform Law Institute and Sharma Hammond, [...]

No ‘Good Will’ Damages for Malpractice Suit

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 12, 2011
Tags: Attorneys, Judge Melvin R. Hughes Jr., Richmond Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts

On reconsideration, a Richmond Circuit Court says plaintiff, a financial services company, may not seek damages for loss of good will in its legal malpractice action against defendant firm, and the court sustains the law firm’s demurrer and dismisses the suit in its entirety. The difference in the Second Complaint is that plaintiff set out [...]

Retainer Limits Defeat Malpractice Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 15, 2011
Tags: Attorneys, Judge Henry E. Hudson, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The Richmond U.S. District Court grants summary judgment in favor of defendant D.C. attorney and law firm because their retainer agreement with client limited the scope of the representation to exclude the matters that are the basis of client’s malpractice claim. Client, an African, resides and works in Virginia for a bus company in Fredericksburg. [...]

Malpractice Claim Waiver No Cure for Conflict

By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 4, 2011
Tags: Attorneys, Judge Robert G. Doumar, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A salon that depended on advice of counsel to apply for trademark protection for WINK Threading Studio, to promote a hair removal technique, but who fired its first lawyer after the PTO said plaintiff WINK salon already had registered the WINK name, cannot share the two lawyers it hired to defend plaintiff’s trademark infringement suit [...]

No Legal Malpractice Claim for Securities Law Advice

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 7, 2011
Tags: Attorneys, Judge Melvin R. Hughes Jr., Richmond Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts

Although plaintiff investment businesses allege defendants’ faulty advice on securities law has exposed them to state and federal investigations and possible disgorgement of capital, a Richmond Circuit Court says plaintiffs have not stated a claim for legal malpractice because they have not alleged lost profits. Plaintiffs, a firm and its subsidiaries, sue an attorney and [...]

Lawyer Can’t Sue VSB Over Blog

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 6, 2011
Tags: Attorneys, Judge John A. Gibney Jr., U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A lawyer advised by the Virginia State Bar to include a disclaimer on his firm-website blog that discusses results in specific cases cannot sue the Virginia State Bar or bar officials on a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim that requiring a disclaimer infringes on his First Amendment rights; a Richmond U.S. District Court says defendants [...]