Legal Malpractice

Will Business Relationship with Attorneys Doom this Legal Malpractice Verdict?

By (Andrew Lavoott Bluestone)

One of the more pleasant aspects of reading cases early in the morning is the occasional new word or concept that leaps from the page.  This article discusses a court official called the "Prothonotary,"  A prothonotary is an elected Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas Civil Division.

"A $3.4 million legal malpractice verdict in Luzerne County President Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr.’s courtroom should be overturned because the judge failed to reveal his business ties to the winning law firm in the case, according to a motion filed Tuesday in county court.  This report comes from the Citizens Voice.

At the beginning of the February jury trial, in response to questions from a defense attorney, Ciavarella denied having any relationship with attorney Robert J. Powell that would raise questions about his ability to fairly preside over the case. But, the motion argues, Ciavarella should have recused himself without being asked because of his financial interest in a land development deal tied to Powell and his partner in the Powell Law Group, county Prothonotary Jill A. Moran, which was revealed in The Citizens’ Voice last week.

“The Court’s undisclosed business relationship with plaintiffs’ counsel constituted conduct which denied defendants their due process right to a disinterested and impartial tribunal,” said the motion, filed by Philadelphia attorney Jeffrey B. McCarron.

At the beginning of the malpractice trial, without the jury present, Ciavarella reacted testily when McCarron asked him if he had any relationship with Powell that would prevent him from presiding fairly. McCarron said he had information about a possible relationship, including shared vacations, from other attorneys, whom he would not name. McCarron also made a vague reference to Powell’s investment in a private juvenile detention center in Pittston Township, which made millions from a county contract after the county’s judges closed a county-owned center in 2003.

Ciavarella denied taking vacations with Powell or having any relationship beyond normal socializing that he would have with other lawyers in the county. He criticized McCarron for failing to be specific

In an earlier motion seeking a new trial filed on May 13, McCarron alleged Ciavarella had exhibited bias during the trial by excluding defense evidence and making prejudicial statements in front of the jury. At the time the motion was filed, McCarron was unaware of the judge’s business ties to Moran and Powell, he said last week. "

Full post as published by New York Attorney Malpractice Blog on June 05, 2008 (boomark / email).