Law Firms
Becker & Poliakoff to Appeal $4.5M Malpractice Loss, Blames ‘Rogue Lawyer’
Posted Sep 18, 2009 7:08 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A former client has won a $4.5 million malpractice judgment against Florida law firm Becker & Poliakoff for waiting too long to inform her that her employment bias case had been dismissed.
The law firm plans to appeal, according to the National Law Journal and the Palm Beach Post.
Plaintiff Jackie Young claimed that a lawyer at the Fort Lauderdale-based law firm waited 13 months to tell her that her case had been dismissed because of an error in the complaint, too late to refile the suit. The law firm has more than 100 lawyers.
The stories quoted a statement issued by the law firm that blamed lawyer Thomas Romeo for mishandling Young’s case. The statement described Romeo as a "rogue lawyer who filed this case without authority and contrary to his supervisor's clear direction. Unbeknownst to the firm and his colleagues, the case was filed and dismissed due to his error. Mr. Romeo purposely hid that information from all parties."
The statement said Romeo has since been fired and disbarred. "We disagree with the verdict blaming the firm for Mr. Romeo's rogue behavior, and we believe the damages are excessive," the firm said.
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Comments
B. McLeod
Sep 18, 2009 8:39 AM CST
Evidently a “rogue lawyer” is completely different from a “Legal Rebel.”
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jbo
Sep 18, 2009 1:55 PM CST
Who’s responsibility is it to monitor the rogue lawyer? As Harry Truman famously observed: “The buck stops here.” This time it’s $4.5 million bucks. Who’s managing the managing partner?
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B. McLeod
Sep 18, 2009 3:02 PM CST
Some firms really are almost oblivious. I heard a story 16 or 17 years back about an “associate” who filed a huge antitrust case and litigated it for several years without the firm ever realizing. Until he left, at which point they noticed cabinet after cabinet in his office, filled with pleadings and documents from the case.
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