2016 All-Ohio Legal Forum. Dealing with Legal Malpractice Claims

Transcription

1 2016 All-Ohio Legal Forum Dealing with Legal Malpractice Claims Professionalism Committee/Legal Ethics and Professional Conduct Committee 1.0 Professional Conduct Hour April 27 April 29, 2016 Cincinnati

2 Speaker Biographies Joseph W. Borchelt Reminger Co., LPA Mr. Borchelt received his undergraduate degree from The College of Wooster and his JD from The University of Akron School of Law. His professional memberships include the Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys (Editor, The Update), Professional Liability Underwriters Society, American Bar Association, Ohio State Bar Association, and Cincinnati Bar Association. Since joining his firm in 2002, Mr. Borchelt has practiced in an array of specialized areas including: employment practices, intentional tort, general liability, insurance coverage, appellate, legal malpractice, professional malpractice, financial services professional liability, Ohio Consumer Sales Practices law, and finance and creditor s rights. Currently he serves as the co-chair of the firm s employment and labor law practice group. Mr. Borchelt has litigated in numerous Ohio courts and several arbitration forums while representing investment advisors, registered representatives, brokers/dealers, automobile dealerships, and employers, including the National Association of Securities Dealers, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and the American Arbitration Association. He was the 2007 recipient of the Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorney s Distinguished Service Award. For additional information, please visit Borchelt.html. Todd M. Jackett Travelers Insurance Independence, Ohio John J. (Jack) Mueller John J. Mueller LLC Mr. Mueller received his BBA from the University of Cincinnati and his JD from Northern Kentucky University Salmon P. Chase College of Law. His professional memberships include the American Bar Association (Litigation and Tort Section; Insurance Practice Section), American Bar Association Center for Professional Responsibility, Ohio State Bar Association (Legal Ethics and Professional Conduct Committee), Cincinnati Bar Association, Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers, and American Association of Attorney-Certified Public Accountants (Life Member). Mr. Mueller practices in the areas of lawyer malpractice (plaintiff s) and lawyers professional responsibility, including defense of discipline cases, ethics opinions and advice and lawyer-mobility issues, and law-firm break-ups. He is the author of A Handbook on the Rules Governing the Duties of Lawyers to Account for Client Funds and Property (Cincinnati Bar Association, 2006). Professor Jack P. Sahl The University of Akron Law School Akron, Ohio Professor Sahl received his BA from Boston College, his JD from University of Vermont College of Law, and his LLM from Yale Law School. His professional memberships include the Ohio State Bar Association, Cleveland Bar Association, Scanlon Inn of Court, and American Bar Association Center for Professional Responsibility. Professor Sahl is a Professor of Law and the Faculty Director of the Miller-Becker Center for Professional Responsibility at The University of Akron School of Law. He teaches courses on professional responsibility, evidence, law, morals and professional responsibility, media reflections of lawyers and judges myths and reality, sports law, and entertainment law. Professor Sahl also teaches a law course each summer at Yale University and a contracts and commercial seminar at the CEIDA Institute in Rome, Italy. He has served as a consultant and an expert witness in professional responsibility cases and has helped to investigate disciplinary matters for the state bar involving lawyers and judges. Professor Sahl is the author of numerous articles on professional ethics and discipline for lawyers and judges and frequently speaks on those topics both nationally and internationally.

3 Dealing with Legal Malpractice Claims Panelists: Joseph Borchelt Reminger Co., LPA John J. (Jack) Mueller John J. Mueller, LLC Todd M. Jackett Travelers Insurance Independence, Ohio Moderator: Professor Jack Sahl Director, Miller-Becker Center for Professional Responsibility The University of Akron School of Law Akron, Ohio Table of Contents I. Challenges in Presenting and Defending Malpractice Claims... 1 A. Initial assessments B. Challenges in litigation C. Challenges in settlement II. Recent Developments and Case Law... 2 III. Risk Management Tips for Avoiding Malpractice Claims... 2 Dealing with Legal Malpractice Claims i

4 ii Dealing with Legal Malpractice Claims

5 Dealing with Legal Malpractice Claims Panelists: Joseph Borchelt Reminger Co., LPA John J. (Jack) Mueller John J. Mueller, LLC Todd M. Jackett Travelers Insurance Independence, Ohio Moderator: Professor Jack Sahl Director, Miller-Becker Center for Professional Responsibility The University of Akron School of Law Akron, Ohio I. Challenges in Presenting and Defending Malpractice Claims A. Initial assessments. 1. Evaluation of challenges from the plaintiff s perspective. 2. Evaluation of challenges from the defendant s perspective. 3. Evaluation of challenges from the insurer s perspective. B. Challenges in litigation. 1. Plaintiff s perspective legal (causation/statute of limitations), practical (client expectation), and jurisdictional (attorney as defendant). 2. Defendant s perspective legal (issues of fact), practical (attorney as client), and jurisdictional (visiting judge). 3. Insurer s perspective legal (coverage issues and non-covered claims), practical (risk assessment and client expectations), and other. C. Challenges in settlement. 1. Plaintiff s perspective managing expectations. 2. Defendant s perspective settling defensible claims. 3. Insurer s perspective managing risk with attorney and insured. Dealing with Legal Malpractice Claims 1

6 II. Recent Developments and Case Law A. Statute of limitations. B. Proximate cause (the case within a case concept). C. Third-party standing. III. Risk Management Tips for Avoiding Malpractice Claims A. Top five tips for avoiding malpractice claims. B. Availability and use of pre-claim assistance. C. Common practices subjecting attorneys to liability for client claims. 2 Dealing with Legal Malpractice Claims