Garcia v. Kozlov, Seaton, Romanini & Brooks, P.C., 179 N.J. 343 (2004)
Student Contributor: Melissa Goldberg
NJ Underlying Litigation (Personal Injury Action)
Facts: In this case, Plaintiff settled an underlying action involving a car crash and later alleged that her lawyer had negligently failed to include a responsible party in the underlying lawsuit. Plaintiff attempted to include this necessary, responsible party as a defendant in the underlying suit, but summary judgment was granted in favor of the new defendant under the statute of limitations. In the malpractice action, Plaintiff argued that failure to include the responsible party lessened her po-tential recovery. The attorney argued that (1) Plaintiff’s settlement barred any recovery in the mal-practice action; and (2) the value of her claim would have been no different with or without the new defendant. Plaintiff, however, proceeded to prove her case using expert testimony regarding the settlement and other evidence regarding her case. The defendant objected to the expert testimony and argued that the “suit within a suit” method, where Plaintiff presents evidence that would have been presented at trial in the underlying action had the malpractice not occurred, was the only way the Plaintiff should be allowed to prove her case.
Issue: Is the “suit within a suit” method the only way to prove proximate cause in a legal malpractice case based on underlying litigation?
Ruling: No.
The proper approach in trying a legal malpractice action will depend on the facts, the legal theories, the impediments to one or more modes of trial, and, where two or more approaches are legitimate, on Plaintiff’s preference.
Lesson: Alternative approaches to the “suit within a suit” method are permitted to prove the causation element in legal malpractice, so long as the jury is provided with an independent basis to determine the effect of the alleged malpractice and the value of plaintiff’s losses.
Tagged with: Case Within a Case, causation, New Jersey, Proximate Cause, suit within a suit, Torts/Personal Injury, underlying, underlying case
Posted in: Case Within a Case, New Jersey, Proximate Cause, Torts/Personal Injury