Professional Liability

Harrington, Ocko & Monk represents professionals and professional service firms, including accountants, lawyers, engineers and insurance brokers in defending professional liability claims brought by clients, former clients and third parties. The firm is regularly called upon by such clients to advise on all aspects of claim avoidance and claim resolution, including handling professional fee disputes which, if unresolved, frequently lead to professional liability claims.

The firm’s professional liability clients include a number of different sized professional firms and their principals as well as insurance companies who insure professional firms.

The firm also regularly represents officers and directors who have been sued in their personal capacity for various breaches of fiduciary duty and losses to corporations resulting in errors and omissions claims.

The firm also represents professionals in all manner of practice related disputes, from partnership disputes among principals, to breach of fiduciary duty claims against departing employees.

Representative Matters:

• Successfully obtained dismissal of malpractice claims in Federal Court against mid-sized accounting firm for preparation of tax returns using tax shelters later rejected by IRS.
• Obtained dismissal of legal malpractice claims alleging failure to adequately defend commercial eviction proceeding.
• Obtained dismissal at trial of claims against engineering firm, when plaintiffs failed to adequately support claim with expert testimony.
• Successfully prosecuted claims for insurance broker against insurer who had cancelled insurance coverage without giving any statutorily required notice.
• Successfully litigated claims against commercial insurance broker for failure to procure insurance coverage which it represented to client had been obtained.