Court Opinion

ID: 9710063
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 04:01:02.558614+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:53.902444
License: Public Domain

DEL SOLE, Judge,
concurring.
I join the majority in holding that a defendant may introduce evidence of collectibility in a legal malpractice case. I view this as recognition of the traditional role of tort litigation, to compensate for the extent of the loss.
*478By the same token, the award should not be reduced by the fees that the defendant lawyer would have collected absent negligence. To do so would diminish the client’s recovery since fees would be required for current counsel.
Further, I agree with the majority that the arbitration award under the Underinsured Motorists section of the applicable policy does not operate to bar a recovery in excess of the award.
In the event the trial court, on remand, determines that Mr. Trapp has sufficient assets to pay the $2,300,000 award, it would be subject to any right of subrogation the underinsured carrier may exercise. If there are no such rights, then the plaintiff, not the defendant, should receive the value of that bargain.