For whatever reason, some defendants prefer to have their disputes heard in federal court. But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that legal-malpractice cases are best left to state courts. And a Dallas federal judge told Baker Botts on April 12 that its dispute is no exception.
A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Feb. 20 in Gunn v. Minton that, except in some unusual circumstances, legal-malpractice cases belong in state court. In Gunn, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. wrote that one way a legal-malpractice case can "arise under" federal law is when federal law creates the cause of action asserted. Vernon Minton’s original patent-infringement suit, for example, arose under federal law because a federal statute specifically authorized it, he wrote.
