- Posts by Justin L. Assouad
PartnerJustin Assouad is a litigator who defends attorneys and law firms in malpractice actions and related proceedings. He has also successfully defended educational, religious, and youth-serving organizations in tort claims brought ...
An updated discussion on whether courts will allow the proceeds of legal malpractice claims to be assigned to a third party.
Analyzes judicial and advisory ethics opinions on whether arbitration clauses in attorney engagement letters are enforceable
In determining whether a lawyer must report a potential malpractice claim on a professional liability “errors and omissions” renewal or application form, must the insured attorney foresee how Missouri appellate courts would interpret a legal issue never before addressed? Based on a recent Missouri Court of Appeals opinion, the answer seems to be perhaps yes.
In Ruiz v. Bar Plan Mutual Insurance Co., 2019 WL 4145480 (E.D. Mo. 2019)(Sept. 3, 2019), the Missouri Court of Appeals found that an attorney’s failure to notify his legal malpractice carrier of a potential malpractice ...
In the seminal case outlining the contours of permissible civil liability against religious organizations, the Missouri Supreme Court in Gibson v. Brewer made clear that civil courts must not be in the business of analyzing or interpreting religious doctrine and administration. Any such “excessive entanglement” between church and state has the effect of inhibiting religion, which of course would violate the First Amendment. For this reason, Missouri courts are precluded from reviewing questions of hiring, ordaining, and retention of clergy in religious organizations ...
