Appeals Court Ponders Arbitration of Legal Malpractice Claim
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A federal appeals court weighed whether a law firm can keep a client’s malpractice claim out of court if the two sides have a contract calling for arbitration of all disputes.
On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit heard Douglas Bezio’s appeal of a Maine federal judge’s dismissal of his case against Portland, Maine-based Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson and three of its lawyers.
Bezio hired Bernstein Shur for a case involving a regulatory dispute with the state of Maine. His contract with the firm stated that fee disputes or “any other dispute that arises out of or relates to this agreement or the services provided by the law firm” were subject to binding arbitration if either side opted for it.
Bezio’s December 2012 lawsuit claimed the Maine Rules of Professional Conduct barred the firm from forcing him to arbitrate malpractice claims. Bezio also sued Scot Draeger, the firm’s securities and financial services industry group practice leader, of counsel John Paterson and associate Caleb DuBois.
Read original articleTags: Appeals Court Ponders Arbitration, Bernstein Shur, federal appeals court, malpractice claim, U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
