Practice Areas
Professional Malpractice Defense
Powell Trachtman defends professionals against malpractice claims, including design professionals, attorneys, accountants, educators and educational institutions, insurance brokers and agents, and real estate professionals. See the Problems Prevented and Solved section of the website for summaries of some recent accomplishments.
Professional malpractice cases are often just another form of commercial litigation, and many of the firms that handle these cases do not have the commercial litigation and business law expertise to fully understand the issues. Unlike those firms, we can bring to bear our depth and experience in commercial litigation, business planning and transactions, real estate, and tax and estate planning to the professional malpractice cases that are entrusted to us.
For instance:
- We have represented accountants charged with providing improper tax and investment guidance, committing errors in the course of auditing or consulting services, and failing to uncover defalcations;
- We have represented attorneys accused of mishandling complex commercial litigation, committing errors in the planning and administration of estates, rendering improper business and tax advice, committing errors in structuring real estate transactions, and in a host of other, similar contexts;
- We have represented schools and universities which have been sued by students who suffered grievous injuries while engaged in sports or other activities;
- We have represented real estate agents and title clerks accused of errors in commercial real estate transactions;
- We have represented insurance brokers alleged to have improperly structured commercial insurance coverages.
We know what insurance carriers require from the counsel they retain on behalf of their insureds. Upon receipt, every case is initially reviewed by a senior attorney who then engages others within the firm whose skills and experience correspond with the needs of the case. Thereafter, each case is promptly reviewed for settlement potential, suitability for alternative dispute resolution, or the necessity for full development and trial. In appropriate cases, a litigation plan and budget is prepared and submitted to the client and carrier for review and approval. During the pendency of the case, we periodically review the litigation plan with the client and carrier, and we monitor compliance with the budget.
