Preventing Legal Malpractice: Potential Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

PREVENTING LEGAL MALPRACTICE:  POTENTIAL PITFALLS AND HOW TO AVOID THEM

Presentation at Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell
Monday, December 2, 2013
Noon -1:15 p.m.

In this 75-minute presentation, Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell attorneys Carolyn Fairless and Chris Montville will cover in detail the potential for legal malpractice and grievance claims and how to avoid them.

They will address the following topics in the presentation and materials:
•             What is legal malpractice and how likely is a claim?
•             Preventative maintenance
•             Screening the potential client
•             Non-engagement letters
•             Client communication
•             Claims by non-clients
•             Ending the engagement

Carolyn Fairless is the managing partner of Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell. She has practiced extensively in the federal and state courts in Colorado, and also has been admitted pro hac vice in several other states. She practices primarily in the areas of professional liability and commercial litigation. Ms. Fairless is listed in Best Lawyers 2013 for legal malpractice law and professional malpractice law. Colorado Super Lawyers selected her among the top 50 lawyers in the state in 2011 and among the top 100 in 2012. In 2010, Law Week Colorado selected her as one of the top nine women lawyers in Colorado. She is a member of the Defense Research Institute's professional liability committee. Ms. Fairless is a graduate of the University of Colorado Law School and has a bachelor's degree in computer science from Tulane University. She has handled the defense of numerous legal malpractice matters and counts among her clients some of the largest law firms and most respected lawyers in Denver. 

Chris Montville is an associate with Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell. Mr. Montville's practice focuses on legal malpractice and complex commercial litigation at both the trial and appellate level. He has represented a wide array of professionals and institutions throughout Colorado, as well as in numerous other jurisdictions. Mr. Montville was selected as a Rising Star by Colorado Super Lawyers in 2012, and served as a law clerk for the Honorable Carlos F. Lucero of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Court from 2007 to 2008. He graduated, magna cum laude, from the Duke University School of Law and has a bachelor's degree in computer science from Rutgers University.