Delaware legal malpractice claim dismissed because plaintiff failed to produce an expert report before discovery deadline.

The Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the Delaware Superior Court’s dismissal of a plaintiff’s legal malpractice claim because she failed to produce an expert report before the discovery deadline. The plaintiff had claimed, inter alia, that her attorneys provided poor advice regarding her settlement and the likely outcomes of the litigation. The Supreme Court held that, although legal malpractice matters presented in a bench trial do not require expert testimony, because the defendant law firm demanded a jury, expert testimony was required to aid the fact finder in determining whether the defendant attorneys breached the standard of care in their representation of Ms. Addalli.

Delaware law on this issue differs from that of other jurisdictions that require a legal malpractice plaintiff to adduce expert testimony irrespective of whether the matter is to be tried before a judge or a jury. Delaware does not require legal malpractice plaintiffs to offer expert testimony when the professional's mistake is so apparent that a layperson, exercising common sense, is perfectly competent to determine whether there was negligence.

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