Attorneys obtained a defense verdict in a complex legal malpractice case

Attorneys obtained a defense verdict in a complex legal malpractice case. Plaintiff, an insurance agency, alleged that our attorney client failed to timely prosecute its third-party beneficiary contract claim against a reinsurer who allegedly put Plaintiff out of business by terminating its reinsurance contract with an insurance company. Plaintiff, through previous counsel, originally filed its underlying third-party beneficiary contract claim against the reinsurer in the United States District Court 1994. In 1997, the District Court ordered the case to arbitration. Each party was to select an arbitrator. The two selected arbitrators were to then select a neutral arbitrator. In 2001, Plaintiff's original counsel withdrew his appearance and our client undertook to continue the representation. Plaintiff, however, had yet to name its arbitrator. Upon Plaintiff's naming an arbitrator in late 2003, the underlying defendant reinsurance company moved to dismiss the claim for lack of prosecution. That motion resulted in a dismissal of the underlying third-party beneficiary claim. Plaintiff then filed its legal malpractice claim against our client seeking recovery of what it claimed would have been awarded if the underlying case had gone to arbitration.