Find Lawyers in Honolulu, Hawaii for Legal Malpractice Law - Plaintiffs
Practice Area Overview
While former clients are the most common plaintiffs, lawyers, and law firms also can be sued by individuals or entities that they never represented. Former clients typically bring claims for legal malpractice (also known as professional negligence), alleging that a lawyer or law firm failed to properly handle a business transaction, lawsuit, or some other matter. Depending on the circumstances, the former client also may assert claims for breach of contract or breach of fiduciary duty. Persons who were never clients of a lawyer may be able to bring a professional negligence or breach of fiduciary duty claim against the lawyer if they can show that they were expected to receive the benefit of a lawyer’s services or were otherwise owed a duty by a lawyer. Lawyers also can be sued for allegedly aiding and abetting torts committed by their clients, such as fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, or malicious prosecution.
Lawyers who sue or defend lawyers and law firms need to have the experience and judgment to assess the strengths and weaknesses of these claims and efficiently manage their litigation. Because legal malpractice plaintiffs are obligated to prove that a lawyer’s conduct fell below the standard of care, which is often the subject of expert testimony, lawyers prosecuting and defending legal malpractice claims must understand the applicable law and make effective use of expert testimony. They must also understand, and critically analyze, the plaintiff’s burden of proving that the lawyer’s or firm’s conduct resulted in actual harm, which in many jurisdictions requires a plaintiff to prove “the case within a case.” Some available defenses are unique to legal malpractice cases. Lawyers handling legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty claims should also have a firm grounding in the ethical rules governing lawyers’ conduct, since such claims often arise from alleged violations of those rules and their assertion may implicate a lawyer’s ethical obligations.
A. Bernard “Bernie” Bays is a Director of the firm. Mr. Bays has over 50 years of experience successfully representing clients in over 150 landmark Hawaii litigation cases. Mr. Bays focuses his practice in the areas of complex commercial litigation, business litigation, real estate litigation, trusts and estates litigation, legal malpractice law-defendant litigation, real estate law and land use and zoning law. Mr. Bays is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the National Board o...
Trevor A. Brown represents clients in both litigation and transactions. His real estate experience ranges from resort acquisition and development to acting as trial counsel to establish beach access rights based on Kingdom of Hawaii land use. Mr. Brown's corporate experience ranges from negotiating corporate restructurings to acting as trial counsel to force the break-up of related land development corporations. Mr. Brown counsels trustees and beneficiaries in trust matters and also represent...
Published Works · Articles on Litigation (Co-Authored) Representative Cases · IEL Liquidation Proceedings, Wayne C. Metcalf, Insurance v. Gary L. Vose, et al · HIG Rehabilitation, HUI/UNICO Liquidation and Linda v. Hawaiian Electric Co. · State v. Kealakekua Ranch · Maunawili Lessees v. Trustees of Castle Estate · State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Robinol, 699 F.Supp. 819 (D.Hawai'i 1988) · Tilton v. Rivera · Eder v. County of Kauai and ...
William Meheula’s practice areas include complex commercial litigation, real estate litigation, legal malpractice, administrative law, divorce cases and Native Hawaiian rights. Mr. Meheula’s real estate litigation practice involves disputes concerning purchase and sale agreements, joint venture agreements, financial agreements, and regarding entitlement, condemnation, environmental, archaeological, and hotel and resort issues. His administrative law practice includes proceedings b...
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