I received a great Christmas present when the NC Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Danius v. Rogers, affirming summary judgment on behalf of a lawyer in a legal malpractice case I was defending. The plaintiffs settled the two underlying cases with the original tortfeasors and then filed suit against my client arguing that the lawyer’s alleged malpractice had damaged the settlement they were able to obtain. I argued that the plaintiffs had waived any claims against their attorney by electing to settle with the original tortfeasors. The Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment, holding that the election of remedies barred the plaintiffs from pursuing claims of malpractice. A summary of the opinion appeared in the NC Lawyers Weekly December 28, 2011 edition under “Important Decisions”. The full opinion can be read here.
