Mar 02, 2021 · By Kate McGee, The Texas Tribune March 1, 2021 “Lawyer for Texas attorney general’s office repeatedly tries to block testimony and evidence at whistleblower hearing” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide …
The first hearing in a whistleblower lawsuit against the Texas Attorney general’s office mostly consisted of objections Monday as the agency’s lawyer opposed the vast majority of questions lawyers asked two former agency employees who testified. Attorney William Helfand repeatedly lobbed those protests after he unsuccessfully tried to get ...
Mar 03, 2021 · Texas Lawyer For Texas Attorney General’s Office Repeatedly Tries To Block Testimony And Evidence At Whistleblower Hearing. A Travis County judge opted to move forward with Monday’s hearing ...
Mar 02, 2021 · The first hearing in a whistleblower lawsuit against the Texas attorney general’s office mostly consisted of objections Monday. The agency’s attorney William Helfand opposed the vast majority of questions that lawyers asked two former agency employees who testified in a hearing to consider whether two of the fired aides should get their jobs back.
plaintiff in a legal malpractice case may seek to recover foreseeable damages proximately caused by the negligent act or omission. In the litigation context, this is usually the amount that the client would have collected, or would have avoided paying, if the litigation had been properly handled. See, e.g., Keck, Mahin & Cate v. National Union Fire Ins. Co., 20
“An attorney malpractice action in Texas is based on negligence.” Cosgrove v. Grimes, 774 S.W.2d 662, 664 (Tex. 1989). Although in some circumstances a plaintiff may allege other causes of action against an attorney, it is well established that a traditional legal malpractice claim sounds in tort.
Limitations. The statute of limitations for legal malpractice claims in Texas is two years. Willis v. Maverick, 760 S.W.2d 642, 644 (Tex. 1988). If the claim is one for legal malpractice, the two-year limitations period applies whether the plaintiff pleads the claim in tort, contract, fraud or some other theory. Streber v. Hunter, 14 F. Supp. 2d 978, 985 (W.D. Tex. 1998); Burnap v. Linnartz, 914 S.W.2d 142, 148 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 1995, writ denied). The two-year limitation period applies not only to causes of action labeled as negligence, but to all causes of action arising from injuries suffered because the lawyer’s representation allegedly fell below the quality required under the law. Murphy v. Gruber, 241 S.W.3d 689, 696–98 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2007, pet. denied) (“[W]e are not bound by the labels the parties place on their claims. . . . [C]haracterizing conduct as “misrepresentation” or “conflict of interest” does not alone transform what is really a professional negligence claim into either a fraud or breach-of-fiduciary-duty claim.”); see also Section 9 infra.
Arbitration. In Royston, Rayzor, Vickery, & Williams, LLP v. Lopez, 467 S.W.3d 494, 504 (Tex. 2015), the Texas Supreme Court held that arbitration clauses in attorney-client employment agreements are not presumptively unconscionable and that public policy does not require an attorney to explain such a clause to a prospective clients, either orally or in writing. Should the client seek to attack and arbitration clause on the basis of substantive or procedural unconscionability, the client bears the burden of proof. Id. at 500–01.
Breach of fiduciary duty.Lawyers owe fiduciary duties to their clients and may be held liable for breaching those duties. Although there have been many attempts to define a lawyer’s fiduciary duties, in general the duties demand honesty, candor, and confidentiality, and require the lawyer to deal fairly and in good faith with the client.