Professional Liability

The Professional Liability lawyers at NKMS handle errors and omissions, administrative charges, and other claims against professionals in a number of fields:

  • Legal Malpractice
  • Accounting Malpractice
  • Realtor Negligence
  • Financial Services Broker/Dealer Disputes
  • Insurance Broker/Agent Liability
  • Auctioneers Liability
The Challenge: When Experience Matters
 
Professional liability defense presents special challenges. It involves determining the appropriate “standard of care,” reconstructing complicated transactions, and making multifaceted, professional judgments understandable to a lay jury. The defense has to be prepared to manage unwieldy numbers of documents and to present the case clearly, using expert witnesses and demonstrative exhibits.
 
The client is often a highly skilled specialist and can be the best resource in preparing a defense. Counsel must treat the client with respect and sensitivity without losing the objectivity needed to achieve the best result. Only one thing will prepare defense counsel for this task: experience.           
 
Legal Malpractice: Our Unique Heritage
 
Defense of lawyers is the cornerstone of our professional liability practice. Our attorneys have defended over 500 claims against lawyers – legal malpractice lawsuits, fee disputes, and cases involving professional ethics and discipline. We are privileged to serve as counsel to other attorneys throughout the country. We act as panel counsel for the principal insurers in New England and on national panels for others. 
 
Because of this experience, the members of this practice group are frequently invited to lecture on topics of professional malpractice, ethics, and risk management. Our members author regular columns for the New Hampshire Bar Association’s Bar News and Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly on topics of professionalism. Several of our lawyers are named in Best Lawyers in America, are recognized as Super Lawyers, and are named in Chambers, USA.
 
Accounting Malpractice: Knowledge Counts
 
One of the fastest growing areas of our practice is the defense of claims against accountants and financial professionals. Our lawyers have extensive experience handling complex accounting malpractice claims.
 
One of our attorneys spent several years working at a leading accounting firm and another of our attorneys is a highly respected bankruptcy specialist.
 
This background and knowledge is invaluable to our understanding of the unique problems posed by accounting malpractice matters
 
Representative Matters
  • A lawyer’s staff member has her own sideline business, involving financial planning and services. She occasionally sends letters to her clients on the lawyer’s stationery, and infrequently meets them in the lawyer’s offices. Her clients regularly call her at the lawyer’s office. The financial planner’s client suffers an investment loss and sues the lawyer. 
  • An accounting firm relied on the in-house work of a college’s business office in calculating amounts owed to the federal government under scholarship reimbursement programs. The calculations proved inadequate and a claim was made against the firm.  
  • A realtor showed a choice investment site to multiple potential purchasers, and then faced a lawsuit from a disappointed prospect whose bid was not accepted. 
“I would like to express my gratitude to your attorneys. I think every attorney should, at least once in their career, step into the shoes of a party. It was an eye opening experience for me. But I had full faith in my counsel. The preparation and presentation of the defense was exemplary.”  

N.H. Attorney

Professional Liability Resources

[5/14/2010] Professional Liability Law: Providing Notice of Claims to Your Carrier
[5/1/2010] Marketing Risks in the Social Media Maelstrom
[1/15/2010] The Lawyer as a Non-Profit Director: Does Altruism Equal Personal Liability?
[9/21/2009] Professional Liability Law Update
[9/14/2009] Professional Liability Law Update
[9/1/2009] Lawyers and Insolvent Clients: Risks Known and Unknown
[8/21/2009] Professional Liability Law Update
[8/4/2009] Professional Liability Law Update
[5/20/2009] Professional Liability Law Update
[11/11/2008] Professional Liability Update
View Additional Resources


Professional Liability News

[5/14/2010] Attorneys Saturley and Kissinger recently published in NH Bar News