Legal Malpractice

Layer after Layer in Legal Malpractice

By (Andrew Lavoott Bluestone)

Sometimes things go from bad to worse, and then decend even further in legal malpractice litigation.  Here is an example.  Plaintiff was injured, went to attorney 1 who settled the case without asking plaintiff, then went to attorney 2, then sued attorney 1 and 2.

"Sturgill, 46, was fishing with a co-worker from the Maryland School for the Deaf in June 2000 when the surge from a nearby dam release capsized their boat. Sturgill was rescued by a passing sailboat and was rushed by helicopter to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in downtown Baltimore.

He claims doctors there released him too soon — after five hours instead of at least 18 — and that his subsequent renal failure and heart problems, which required further hospitalization, were the result of emergency room malpractice.

Sturgill, who had already consulted other lawyers about his claim, called The Suder Law Firm in April 2003, a few months before the filing deadline for his medical malpractice suit.

On Tuesday, Joyce testified that the doctor he had review the case found the emergency room doctors discharged Sturgill in stable condition. The doctor refused to sign on as an expert for the case, but Joyce agreed to negotiate with the hospital on Sturgill’s behalf.

He eventually accepted the offer in a letter to the hospital’s representative without conferring with Sturgill, who was at work, until the next day. Sturgill rejected the offer.

Joyce testified he had explained, before parting ways with Sturgill, that it was still up to the client to decide whether to accept the offer or file a claim.

Joyce said he helped Sturgill draft his claim and file it, all free of charge.

Sturgill, though, testified that he did not learn of Joyce’s action until he was sued by the hospital for having filed an action after settling his claim.

He said he later went to the Lutherville firm of Miller, Murtha & Psoras LLC, which he also sued and eventually settled with over its handling of his medical malpractice claim. "
 

Full post as published by New York Attorney Malpractice Blog on October 16, 2008 (boomark / email).