Attorneys obtained summary judgment for a local law firm on a professional malpractice counterclaim

Attorneys obtained summary judgment for a local law firm on a professional malpractice counterclaim. Our client brought suit for recovery of outstanding legal fees and the defendant filed a counterclaim alleging professional negligence and breach of contract in the handling of a complicated underlying fraud case. Specifically, counterclaim plaintiff alleged that our client abandoned his claims in the middle of the underlying trial and force the counterclaim plaintiff to settle the underlying case for a fraction of its worth. The attorneys' successfully argued that the counterclaim plaintiff could not prove his case within the case for a number of reasons. The court also agreed that counterclaim plaintiff needed expert testimony on causation in support of his claims even though counterclaim plaintiff's counsel argued (and our client agreed!) that the abandonment of a client's claims at trial would be indisputably negligent. Now that summary judgment has been rendered on the counterclaim, our client is free to pursue its fee claim in arbitration.