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Firm Accused of Duping Malpractice Claimants
The National Law Journal
July 02, 2009
Former clients of a Cleveland-based law firm have convinced an Ohio appeals court to revive their claim that the 45-attorney shop duped them into a low-ball settlement in a legal malpractice case.
Reversing a lower court, the three-judge panel threw out summary judgment in favor of Javitch, Block & Rathbone, a collections and bankruptcy firm with four offices in Ohio and Indiana. The panel found that a lower court needed to sort out whether the law firm intentionally failed to disclose that it carried professional liability insurance that may have covered the former clients' legal malpractice claim against the firm.
Robert and Diane Berry, the former clients, settled their malpractice action against Javitch Block in 2001 for $195,000. The malpractice action stemmed from a case the Berrys brought against a construction company, for which they hired Javitch Block.
The Berrys argued that they would not have settled the malpractice case for $195,000 if they had known that Javitch Block had malpractice insurance to possibly cover the claims. They asserted that the law firm fraudulently induced them into settling for that amount.
Javitch Block argued that the Berrys, in seeking to rescind the settlement, failed to file their claims before the one-year statute of limitations ran out. The Berrys asserted that they were not seeking to rescind the claims but were suing for fraud, which carried a four-year limitations period. The Court of Appeals of Ohio agreed with the plaintiffs. Berry v. Javitch Block, No. CV-601524.
Javitch Block did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Representing the Berrys is Christopher M. DeVito, a partner at Cleveland-based Morganstern, MacAdams & DeVito; and Paul Grieco, a partner at Landskroner, Grieco, Madden, also in Cleveland.
