Taking up a legal malpractice case earlier this week, a panel of Georgia Court of Appeals judges have been asked to decide whether an engagement agreement between a lawyer and client can contain an enforceable binding arbitration clause.

Hawkins Parnell & Young partner Kathryn Whitlock argues that the Georgia Arbitration Act has been carefully delineated by the state legislature to foreclose arbitration clauses in an array of litigation such as medical malpractice, personal injury and wrongful death claims, and that no such stricture applies to contracts for legal services.   

Kathryn Whitlock, with Hawkins Parnell & Young. Kathryn Whitlock