Attorney Professional Liability
Contact: Susan J. Baronoff
Contact: David P. Friedman
Our trial lawyers have long devoted a part of their practice to the representation of attorneys. We defend attorneys and law firms against legal malpractice and related claims, represent attorneys in bar disciplinary proceedings, and advise and represent attorneys and law firms in partnership disputes and dissolutions. Many of our clients are insured by Attorneys' Liability Assurance Society ("ALAS") and other insurers, although we have represented attorneys who lacked coverage for a particular dispute.
In defending these claims, we are sensitive to the fact that professional reputations are at stake, as well as often large sums of money. We have faced a broad range of important issues, such as whether an attorney-client relationship existed between an attorney and a friend who lost money in a business transaction, whether a legal malpractice claim could be assigned, and whether an attorney breached the applicable standard of care in recommending that his client enter into a court-approved settlement. Not only have we tried such cases to successful conclusions, but we have also succeeded at the summary judgment and appeal stages and have achieved favorable settlements through negotiation and mediation. Our lawyers have often provided expert testimony in the trials of attorney-client disputes.
We also have represented attorneys in a wide variety of disciplinary matters before the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers and the Connecticut Statewide Grievance and Bar Examining Committees. One of our partners served as chair of the Massachusetts Board.
As attorneys have become increasingly mobile, leaving firms to associate with new firms or start new practices, we have been called upon for advice about issues such as joint notification of clients, division of fees and profits, and the interpretation and revision of partnership agreement provisions. We have litigated cases between law firms and departing partners, often involving issues of significance to the legal profession, such as the validity of noncompete provisions in a partnership agreement.
