Stites & Harbison has a 150-year history of defending all types of professionals. We continue that tradition when we also represent clients who may have difficult and complex claims against professionals. We invest time and resources in order to understand the practices and duties unique to each profession. These professions include accountants, auditors, counselors, attorneys, engineers, architects, structural inspectors, financial advisors, insurance agents and brokers and the insurance industry as a whole. Our work is not limited to the trial of civil suits. We often assist professionals in actions before administrative agencies or professional boards, and work with professionals when incidents occur in order to mitigate or eliminate potential liability. In context of civil suits, our work begins long before a complaint is filed as we push to prevent filing through argument and—if merited—negotiation. Where complaints are filed, clients receive aggressive, effective and efficient representation. The attorneys comprised by our professional liability team publish and lecture on issues related to ethics, professional liability, trial practice and other related issues. Members of our group also participate in a number of bar related activities, including: - the former Chairman of the Kentucky Bar Association's Civil Litigation Section,
- the former President of the Kentucky Chapter of the Federal Bar Association,
- the President-elect of the Kentucky Defense Counsel, and
- the Vice-Chairman of DRI's Professional Liability Committee's Steering Committee.
Other team members are active in DRI, the Kentucky Defense Counsel, the Professional Liability Underwriting Society, the ABA's Professional Liability Litigation Committee and the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers. Experience - We obtained multiple summary judgments for attorney clients in 2006 and into 2007. One case involved alleged negligence in drafting a will. Our attorneys were able to prove the lack of cognizable damages. Another involved allegedly negligent advice in the sale of a business, in which we successfully argued lack of "but for" causation. A third involved failure to bring suit on an assault at a correctional institution. We were able to secure judgment on seven separate grounds all finding there was no viable "case within a case."
- Our lawyers obtained summary judgments for architects and engineers based on the “government contractor” defense. These victories, to our knowledge, were the first of their kind in Kentucky.
- We acted as lead counsel for the liquidator of one of the largest life insurers in America in prosecuting professional liability claims against the insurer's auditors in a series of suits arising out of the insurer's financial collapse. The auditors agreed to pay $23 million after years of intense litigation that involved mortgage loan loss reserve and actuarial issues.
- We recently convinced the trial court on the eve of trial to exclude the plaintiff's sole expert witness in a complex accountant malpractice case on a successful Daubert challenge.
- After being contacted by an insurance carrier about a potential claim against one of its insured attorneys, we were able to convince the claimant's counsel that the attorney not only should not be sued, but was owed a significant amount of money by his former client.
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