Some people in Florida may have heard that Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, was involved in a property dispute with his neighbors over an easement. In 2017, Lewandowski filed a $5 million lawsuit against them saying they would not allow him access to an easement that was the only way he could get to his property on the waterfront. He said they harassed workers he had hired to build a garage.
The neighbors filed a countersuit. They said that Lewandowski had hindered the building of their home by disrupting electrical work. They also claimed he had threatened them with a baseball bat. In 2018, the case was settled out of court when the Lewandowskis paid $75,000 to their neighbors. However, in December 2019, the Lewandowskis filed a lawsuit against the attorney who represented them in the case for legal malpractice. They want both their legal fees and $75,000.
According to the Lewandowskis, they only settled out of court because their attorney did not properly prepare for the trial. The judge would not grant a postponement although he reprimanded the attorney for the lack of preparation, which included not having a statement of the case or a witness list. The Lewandowskis said they felt they had to pay the settlement because they were worried about losing the case.
As is the case in the medical field and some other industries, an attorney with experience in legal malpractice law may be held liable if they are negligent in working on a client’s case. A lack of proper preparation that a client should be able to reasonably expect could be considered negligent as could not filing documents on time, including failure to note statutes of limitations. Other ways that an attorney might be found negligent include neglecting fiduciary duty and failing to disclose conflicts of interest.