The firm was retained by a company traded on the New York Stock Exchange to sue a major Wall Street law firm for legal malpractice resulting from advice given in connection with a corporate reorganization that required a payoff of approximately $1 Billion in public debt. At the time we were retained, the statute of limitations had run in the state in which the client was located, in the state in which the defendant law firm was based and in all states in which any major portions of the events took place. Through some creative strategies, however, our firm was successful in obtaining jurisdiction and venue in an alternative jurisdiction in which the statute of limitations had not run. Over fierce objections to personal jurisdiction and venue, we were successful on all procedural motions and were allowed to proceed with the case.
Shortly before the trial date, we obtained a settlement of $25.5 Million, which represented a substantial increase in what the client expected when our firm was first retained and, to our knowledge, is one of the largest settlements or verdicts recorded in a legal malpractice case. The firm’s success in this case was the subject of an article published in the Chicago Tribune.