Professional Malpractice › Civil Remedies › Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

Trial lawyers beware of the in terrorem trust clause: A nasty trap that can keep on springing.

An “in terrorem” or “no-contest” clause in a trust instrument provides for the forfeiture or reduction of the equitable property interest of a beneficiary who contests the arrangement. In a recent New Hampshire case, Shelton,...more

Attorney Gambles Chasing Fees and Loses Big

Originally published in Litigation News, American Bar Association (November 2012). As lawyers often advise their clients, any litigation involves some element of risk, and “there is no such thing as a slam dunk.” A...more

Supreme Court Rules Consumers Can’t Sue Nursing Homes

Nursing homes are free to use binding arbitration agreements in their contracts with residents, barring victims and their families from suing the homes even in extreme cases of personal injury and wrongful death, the Supreme...more

Mediation and Arbitration have their limitations when it comes to trust disputes.

Unless the fiduciary issues and the representation issues in a trust dispute are properly sorted out in advance, there is a very real risk that an ill-considered rush to mediate or arbitrate will prove an expensive and...more

McReynolds v. Krebs

Georgia Supreme Court Rules on Apportionment of Damages

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled that Georgia's modified comparative fault scheme is to be applied even in cases in which the plaintiff bears no fault....more

Dzwonkowski v. Spinella: Law Firm Prevailing in Arbitration Entitled to Recover Fees for Services Rendered by “Of Counsel”...

In a published decision, the Court of Appeal (Fourth Appellate District, Division Three) has held that a law firm which prevailed in mandatory fee arbitration against a former client was entitled to an award of attorney’s...more

Recent Rulings Concerning the Mandatory Fee Arbitration Act

Two recent California Court of Appeal decisions–one of them published–address the procedure for requesting a trial de novo following the issuance of an arbitration award under the Mandatory Fee Arbitration Act (MFAA) (Bus. &...more

Court Confirms Arbitration Award in Favor of Law Firm Even Though Firm Did Not File Petition to Compel Arbitration

The grounds on which a binding arbitration award may be challenged in court are very limited, and a recent attack on an award against a former law-firm client was unsuccessful. In Vigilant v. Lamprey (First Appellate...more

The Map of the Iceberg of Toxic Foreclosure

When it comes to foreclosure, particularly those involving a mortgage sold to a trust, the media has reported all kinds of irregularities and improprieties. I thought it would be interesting to do a table of who might be...more

A Fee Change

A recent decision of the California Supreme Court has made the enforceability of arbitration clauses in attorney-client fee agreements more secure and raised questions about the continued usefullness of California's Mandatory...more

LMIC v. Lorman

Petition to Compel Arbitration and Request for Stay of Proceedings

Petition to compel arbitration and to stay proceedings under a lawyers professional liability insurance policy. ...more