Fishman v. Brooks

Larimore Brooks (plaintiff) was struck by a car while bicycling and hired attorney Irving Fishman (defendant) to pursue a personal-injury claim. Fishman, who had not litigated in over a decade, failed to examine the striking vehicle, investigate the driver's conduct, or conduct meaningful discovery, instead relying mainly on the negligent driver's insurer; he also never learned the driver's policy limit was $1 million, telling Brooks only $250,000 was available. When settlement negotiations with another experienced litigator fell through over a fee dispute, and shortly before trial Fishman told Brooks he could not win the case, Brooks was forced to settle for just $160,000. At the ensuing legal-malpractice trial, the underlying personal-injury case was essentially retried to determine what Brooks would have recovered; an experienced tort attorney and a claims adjuster both testified the case's fair settlement value was between $400,000 and $500,000, and the jury found Fishman negligent and awarded $525,000, later reduced for Brooks's own 10 percent contributory fault and other adjustments.