Professional Liability Blog

IntroductionIn Erie-Huron Cnty. Bar Assn. v. Smith, 2016 WL 911280 (Ohio Mar. 10, 2016), the Ohio Supreme Court upheld the Board of Professional Conduct’s ruling to indefinitely suspend a solo-practicing attorney’s law license. The Supreme Court held an indefinite suspension was warranted due to the attorney’s failure to file bankruptcy petitions on behalf of his clients, failure to return advanced fees, failure to deposit advanced funds into a client trust account, and failure to notify clients he lacked professional liability insurance.

In Gandor v. Torus Nat’l Ins. Co., 2015 WL 6043621 (D. Mass. Oct. 15, 2015), the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted an insurer’s motion for summary judgment finding there was no professional liability coverage for two underlying claims stemming from an attorney’s alleged malpractice in handling his client’s appeal of a zoning decision.

IntroductionIn Burk & Reedy, LLP v. Am. Guarantee & Liab. Ins. Co., 89 F.Supp.3d 1(D.D.C. 2015), the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia examined a professional liability insurer’s duty to defend when the insured attorney is involved in both the legal and business aspects of a failed transaction. The case serves as an apt reminder for attorneys to be mindful of their ethical obligations at all times, and how an alleged failure to follow those ethical obligations may impact the extent of their malpractice insurance coverage.

The realities of running a business can sometimes interfere with the practice of law. When a lawyer needs funding to keep his or her practice afloat, a tempting source of financing might be a wealthy client with whom the lawyer has developed a relationship over the course of many years and transactions. Borrowing money from a client, however, is rife with ethical and legal ramifications.

Attorneys and other professionals, while aware of the rules of professional conduct, are also aware not all of their colleagues uphold the trust their clients place in them. Commonly, lawyers form and create partnerships, which present the opportunity for mutual gains but also expose attorneys who uphold the ideals of the profession to the potential failures of others.