Professional Negligence Law Reporter

A federal district court held that a legal malpractice plaintiff may recover nonspeculative damages beyond the amount of the underlying settlement.

Michael DeLeo sued attorney Miranda Jones and her law firm, alleging the defendants had negligently represented him in an underlying lawsuit, resulting in a judgment against him, plus attorney fees. The defense filed a motion in limine, asking that the court exclude from evidence damages the plaintiff claimed beyond the amount of the underlying settlement, including interest on a loan to pay the settlement and legal fees in connection with a bankruptcy proceeding. The defense argued that the claimed damages beyond the original judgment were consequential damages not legally recoverable in a legal malpractice action.

Dismissing the motion, the district court noted that when the injury suffered is an adverse judgment, the judgment generally sets the measure of damages. Citing case law, the court also noted that Maine law prohibits the recovery of damages that are speculative, remote, or not reasonably foreseeable.

Here, the court found, it is the plaintiff’s burden to show that the damages he claimed were reasonably foreseeable and not speculative. For example, if the trial evidence shows that Jones knew DeLeo would be unable to pay a large award without severe financial hardship, a jury could find that DeLeo’s decision to borrow or declare bankruptcy would constitute a foreseeable result of the attorney’s negligence. A jury must decide whether DeLeo would have declared bankruptcy in any event, the court added, noting that such a determination is part of the foreseeable loss analysis.

The court concluded that the plaintiff must prove by a preponderance of evidence that he sustained damages as a consequence of the defendants’ negligence, and the jury may not base a damages award on guesswork. The jury must, the court said, be given proper instructions on the burden of proof and all damages categories at issue in the case. Where the jury concludes that the plaintiff is entitled to recover additional damages, the court said, it could consult additional authority and revisit these issues of law.

Citation: DeLeo v. Jones, 2024 WL 3067196 (D. Me. June 20, 2024).

Plaintiff counsel: David C. Johnson, Lee H. Bals, Trey R. Milam, and Katherine Blair Johnson, all of Portland, Maine.