Law Firm Accused Of Breaching Ethical And Fiduciary Duty

This case involves a legal ethics dispute between a major law firm and a corporate client. The corporate client was involved in an intellectual property dispute and had solicited counsel from the defendant law firm. The law firm in question was in the process of merging with another firm during this time. Over the course of the attorney-client relationship, the corporate client requested the complete case file but was repeatedly denied by the law firm. The corporate client eventually stopped receiving responses from the firm altogether. The law firm later abandoned the corporate client for undisclosed reasons but demanded payment as though the full services had been rendered. It was alleged that the law firm breached their fiduciary duty and professional employment contract with the corporate client. It was further alleged that the law firm disclosed their corporate client’s business records without the client’s permission.

Question(s) For Expert Witness

1. Please describe your academic background as relates to legal ethics and malpractice.

Expert Witness Response E-009179

I am the vice president and general counsel of a consulting firm providing expertise in legal malpractice and legal ethics. For the past 30 years, I have focused my law practice on the law governing legal malpractice, ethics, law firm billing disputes and attorney advertising. I have been involved either as attorney of record or expert in 1,500+ cases throughout the United States. Since 2010, I have been chairman of the legal malpractice department of a prominent law firm in the northeast. I serve as a professor of law at a northeast law school where I teach lawyer malpractice.