Nearly six months after he drafted a client’s divorce agreement in 2001, attorney Bruce Beck knew he had made a mistake in its wording. He first realized the problem after a hearing in the case during which new financial information was presented by his client.
Beck, of Beck & Eldergill in Manchester, Conn., alerted his malpractice insurance carrier, with whom he carried a $1 million policy, and prepared for a claim from the client, who lost his entire retirement fund to his ex-wife as a result of Beck’s mistake.Beck “intended to assert a comparative negligence defense” against his client, Dr. Jeffrey R. Breiter of Manchester, for lack of care in providing the necessary financial statements.
