Court Opinion

ID: 9709768
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 03:54:21.476687+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:51.323545
License: Public Domain

LARSEN, Justice,
dissenting.
I agree with the majority’s determination that as between appellants and appellee Rothman, appellee must bear the loss of the $7,000 settlement which his attorney misappropriated. I disagree, however, with the majority’s conclusion that appellee is barred from pursuing his claim against appellants for amounts in excess of the $7,000 settlement *269with which appellants have been credited. Accordingly, I dissent.
Since appellee never authorized the $7,000 settlement, there is no reason to believe that that amount was reasonable to compensate him for his injuries. In addition, I fail to see how prohibiting appellee from establishing the true value of his loss at trial will promote our policy favoring settlement. The only thing that would be accomplished by disallowing a suit such as appellee’s is the further punishment of a plaintiff and the provision of a bonanza to a defendant for conduct which was beyond their control. In this case, I do not think that appellee should be further penalized; rather, appellee should have an opportunity to establish at trial his actual damages.
Further, the fact that a client security fund exists is no reason to deny appellee his right of action against appellants. The client security fund is funded by attorneys and its purpose is to assist clients who have suffered losses due to the misconduct of their attorneys. The fund’s purpose is not, however, to reimburse appellee for any injuries resulting from the negligence of appellants. While it is true that appellants should not bear the loss occasioned by appellee’s dishonest counsel, neither should appellants be permitted to profit from counsel’s misconduct. If appellants actually caused injury to appellee in an amount in excess of $7,000, then they should be responsible for that excess.
I would hold that appellee may proceed to trial against appellants for any damages in excess of the $7,000 unauthorized settlement.*

 In those cases in which settlement negotiations and the subsequent striking of a settlement have created a long lapse of time between the filing of suit and trial, any allegation of actual prejudice to the defendant, such as the unavailability of witnesses, such that requiring defense of the suit would be patently unfair, must be disposed of by the trial court. Compare Brakeman v. Potomac Insurance Company, 472 Pa. 66, 371 A.2d 193 (1977) (where insurance company has not suffered actual prejudice, it must still defend insured despite untimely notice of existence of claim).