Perri and Leis Secure Summary Judgment Victory in New Jersey Legal Malpractice Action
Clausen Miller shareholders Carl M. Perri and Matthew Leis recently obtained summary judgment for their client in a lengthy New Jersey legal malpractice litigation. This case involved an underlying property dispute litigation where one of the original defendants filed for bankruptcy. Plaintiff alleged our attorney client failed to secure certain debt even though he was able to settle the underlying case and obtain a very good result for the original claimant. We successfully argued that the legal malpractice plaintiff’s case was too complex for the general understanding of a lay person juror and plaintiff’s failure to timely disclose an expert was fatal to his claims. In New Jersey, while obtaining a legal malpractice expert is good practice, it is not always necessary. The need for an expert is determined by the complexity of issues presented to the jury and whether a jury could understand these issues without expert assistance. In this matter, we were able to persuade the Court that the underlying bankruptcy, legal strategy, and allegations of departure of good and accepted legal practice warranted an expert and the case was dismissed with prejudice.
Please contact Carl ([email protected]) or Matthew ([email protected]) to discuss our professional liability defense practice.
Carl M. Perri
Matthew T. Leis