Delaware Supreme Court Upholds Dismissal of Legal Malpractice Claims Based on Collateral Estoppel

The Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the Superior Court’s dismissal of the plaintiffs’ legal malpractice claims under the collateral estoppel doctrine. 

The plaintiffs, previously claimants in an underlying class action case as parents of an injured minor child, brought the legal malpractice claim against class counsel, claiming that counsel was negligent by failing to advise them to affirmatively opt out of the class in order to pursue an individual claim, given the nature and extent of the child’s injuries. 

The Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the Superior Court’s determination that the claims administrator’s decision in the underlying class action was a final adjudication on the merits by a court of competent jurisdiction as the claim process was an approved process set up by the court in the underlying action. 

The collateral estoppel doctrine, often called “issue preclusion,” is a doctrine that prevents a party from re-litigating an issue of fact or law that has already been resolved in a prior proceeding. It is intended to promote finality, conserve judicial resources, and protect parties from the burden of duplicative litigation.
 

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