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Malpractice?

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M

MEH

Guest
I apologize if this is the wrong forum for malpractice questions.

I'm a taxpaying resident of an Illinois school district that was sued for employment discrimination. A school official has shown me paperwork indicating the following:

The plaintiff told the district she would settle the dispute in mediation for non-monetary relief such as policy changes plus the $145.00 she'd incurred in legal fees. All parties agreed they wanted to mediate the dispute through a free mediation service offered by our states human rights commission. The school districts lawyers were informed of such.

However, the school district's lawyers declined the mediation service, without telling their clients, but knowing their clients were interested. The lawyers then led the district to believe that the plaintiff had changed her mind and declined the mediation. This led to more animosity and fighting between the parties.



The plaintiff subsequently filed suit
and won a hefty settlement. The school district's insurance pays for most of the damages but the district had to pay tens of thousands in legal fees out of taxpayer supported accounts. They also lost a substantial amount of grant funding in relation to the discrimination complaint.

All of this could've been avoided through mediation. Some residents believe the district's lawyers declined mediation to make more money in legal fees.

My question: since the lawyers were paid from public funds, can the taxpayers of this school district sue them for malpratice or anything else related to this matter?

Thanks.
 


P

prairielaw3

Guest
each state's laws will differ somewhat and i cannot speak for Illinois law, so it would be wise to consult with an Illinois attorney, but generally, if there is a malpractice claim it would probably tecnically belong to the client or the party of the suit; so any claim would likely have to be brought by the school district; also generally in a malpractice case it is usually required that the underlying claim be tried to see if the difference made a differnce; insuch a circumstance that might be hard to prove that if there had been arbitration, there would probably have been a different result. In other words, in addition to proving negligence, a party to whom the claim belongs would also have to prove that any negligence was a cause of damages.
a belif that there would have been a differnt outcome is generally insufficient.
George Senteney
George Senteney

------------------
George H. Senteney
http://www.prairielaw.com
 
L

lawrat

Guest
I am a law school graduate. What I offer is mere information, not to be construed as forming an attorney client relationship.

YES most certainly the official "client" or "client of record" will be the official entity suing! Lawyers are supposed to be ZEALOUS ADVOCATES FOR THEIR CLIENTS. THe clients determine the route to be taken (including whether they prefer mediation). Aside from that, they are to tell you the truth about: what each party is doing, thinking of doing or has done.

According to your stated facts, they probably didn't do that.

I suggest contacting your state Bar and finding out the appropriate steps to be taken both with the BAR and possible civil suits. With a civil suit, for you to prevail,, you would probably have to show that you would have faired better or won the case had it been to mediation.

Hope this helps.
 

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