$600,000 Settlement for Legal Malpractice: Missed Deadline

$600,000 for a legal malpractice case arising out of a blown statute of limitations by prior legal counsel on a Labor Law case. The 60 year old plaintiff was working at a high school, performing asbestos abatement. As he crawled along the scaffold in a relatively dark area, his knee pushed down onto a nail that was sticking up, forcing him to lurch and fall to his side, where he fell 3 feet and landed on his right side. He injured various body parts and required a knee and shoulder arthroscopy. We proved that Labor Law Sec. 241(6) requires owners and contractors to “provide reasonable and adequate protection and safety” for workers, which includes maintaining all passageways free of debris. We further proved that but for his attorney’s failure to file a complaint within the appropriate time period, his case would have been successfully prosecuted.