Attorneys obtained a defense verdict on behalf of an Attorney in a legal malpractice case

Attorneys obtained a defense verdict on behalf of an Attorney in a legal malpractice case. The underlying action involved a medical malpractice claim initially filed by an attorney based on an extremely limited theory of negligence. Following the filing of the original complaint, our client was referred the case and continued to prosecute. After discovery and expert review, it was determined that the theory of liability outlined in the original complaint was too narrowly pled and that the theory of negligence was unsupportable by expert testimony. Our client successfully filed a motion to amend the complaint and the matter went to trial resulting in a large verdict. However, the defendant physician filed post-trial motions claiming that the court improperly allowed the plaintiff to amend the complaint to add a new theory of liability after the statute of limitations. After extensive settlement negotiations, Plaintiff accepted a smaller settlement and pursued this legal malpractice action. After being served with the legal malpractice complaint, the plaintiff's attorney who had originally handled the underlying action and drafted the faulty Complaint, filed a Joinder Complaint adding our client and the attorney's firm as additional defendants. This case was originally mediated and the mediator recommended a 50/50 split between the defendant and our client for which our client rejected. The jury in the legal malpractice action found that the Defendant attorney was casually negligent and found that our client, the third party defendant, was not negligent.