Moores v. Greenberg
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
834 F.2d 1105 (1987)
Longshoreman Ralph Moores (plaintiff) hired attorney Nathan Greenberg (defendant) on a one-third contingency fee to sue a ship's owners for injuries Moores suffered on the job; while the case was pending, the ship owners twice offered to settle — first for $70,000, then $90,000 — but Greenberg never relayed either offer to Moores. Moores and Greenberg ultimately lost the underlying suit, and Moores sued Greenberg for malpractice, claiming he would have accepted the $90,000 offer had he known about it; a jury awarded Moores $12,000, and Greenberg appealed the denial of his motion for a directed verdict.
Whether a lawyer has a duty to keep the client reasonably informed on the status of the client's case, including submitting reasonable offers of settlement to the client for consideration.