IADC member Bobby Hood, Jr., Managing Partner at Hood Law Firm LLC, and Maddie Suttie obtained a defense verdict before the Honorable Frank Addy following a four day legal malpractice trial in Lexington County, South Carolina.
The Plaintiff sued an associate of the law firm alleging that she was negligent in the handling of her divorce matter and failing to discover and stop her employer from taking the Plaintiff’s money that had been deposited into the firm’s trust account. Plaintiff alleged that in preparing the Plaintiff’s final Financial Declaration, the Defendant should have learned of the deposits with the firm and inquired further of her employer; thus enabling her to discover the thievery and remove the Plaintiff’s money. Plaintiff dismissed the attorney who stole the money and the law firm just before trial started.
The defense presented evidence that the Defendant was not aware of the money being in the firm’s trust account nor of her employer stealing the money. They presented testimony that the Defendant acted appropriately throughout her involvement in the divorce matter and that nothing she did caused or contributed to the Plaintiff’s damages.
The jury returned a verdict in favor of the Defendant.