Divorce Lawyer Not Liable in Malpractice Case by Nobel Prize Winner
A Nobel Prize winner has lost a $1 million malpractice suit against his former divorce lawyer.
Federal jurors in Washington, D.C., ruled for divorce lawyer Rita Bank on Wednesday, according to The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.
Economist Joseph Stiglitz had alleged Bank should have filed divorce papers more quickly to avoid his wife’s claim to his $300,000 prize and future earnings based on the award. He also claimed Bank failed to inform him she was in talks with the lawyer for Stiglitz’s spouse about forming a law firm together.
In a statement after the verdict, Stiglitz said, “The judge circumscribed the evidence and the jury did not have the full facts before them so it was not a fair trial.”
Bank’s lawyer, Richard Simpson of Wiley Rein, had argued Stiglitz had made unreasonable demands and had insisted on using his own mathematical formulas to value assets, the story says. Bank had also asserted she told Stiglitz as soon as possible about her talks with the opposing lawyer.
