Sued for Malpractice, Law Firm Must Now Fight for Insurance Coverage
Two lawyers in a Washington, D.C., firm already were facing a $10 million malpractice claim over a tax shelter matter when their situation changed for the worse.
Now their insurance carrier, Carolina Casualty Insurance Co., is seeking a declaratory judgment that it doesn’t have to defend the claim. It contends in a federal lawsuit filed in the District of Columbia that Jonathon Moore and Charles Bruce withheld information when they applied for coverage that “might reasonably be expected to be the basis of a claim” concerning the tax shelter matter, reports the National Law Journal. The article is summarized in New York Lawyer (reg. req.).
The firm’s lawyer declined comment, but in court filings Moore & Bruce says that cell phone entrepreneur James De May was a sophisticated businessman who was always informed about the work the law firm did for him. He contends the firm botched a tax shelter, costing him millions, and overbilled for its work.
