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Legal Malpractice Law Keyed to Fortney, 3rd Ed.
Darby & Darby, P.C. v. VSI International, Inc.
Citation:
95 N.Y.2d 308, 739 N.E.2d 744, 716 N.Y.S.2d 378 (2000)Facts
In December 1990, VSI International, a Florida corporation selling nonprescription reading glasses, retained Darby & Darby to represent them in two Florida lawsuits alleging patent, trademark, and trade dress infringement. Over the next two years, VSI incurred nearly $200,000 in unpaid legal fees. After repeated demands for payment, Darby withdrew as counsel in October 1993. In August 1996, Darby sued to recover the unpaid fees. VSI counterclaimed, alleging legal malpractice based on Darby’s failure to advise them about potential insurance coverage under their general liability policy. VSI noted that successor counsel had successfully secured such coverage in 1994, but their carrier denied coverage for expenses incurred during Darby’s representation. VSI later attempted to add a counterclaim alleging Darby had misadvised them on potential liability arising from their marketing practices prior to the litigation.
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