Legal Malpractice

"At Issue" Discussions and Legal Malpractice

By (Andrew Lavoott Bluestone)

To what extent may a legal malpractice defendant seek disclosure of privileged discussions?  The general answer is if they are "at issue" in the legal malpractice.  Here in the Akin Gump legal malpractice case is a good example.  From Law.Com:

"Manhattan appeals court has narrowed the scope of discovery Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld can seek from the former hedge fund managers who are suing the law firm for fraud and legal malpractice.

James McBride and Kevin Larson, the former principals of Veras Investment Partners, sued Akin Gump for over $4 billion in damages last year, claiming the firm advised it that the "late trading" activities which made the fund a target of former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer were legal.

A judicial hearing officer had ruled that the Veras plaintiffs had waived privilege regarding these communications by placing them "at issue" in their complaint. But the Appellate Division, 1st Department ruled Thursday in Veras v. Akin Gump, 600340/07, that mere relevance did not suffice to place the contents of otherwise privileged communications at issue. "

Full post as published by New York Attorney Malpractice Blog on June 24, 2008 (boomark / email).