Malpractice – Negligence

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Brian Reynolds v. Henderson & Lyman, et al.

Case No.: 17-1999

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and KANNE and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges

Focus: Malpractice – Negligence

This appeal arises out of a malpractice suit that Brian Reynolds brought against the law firm Henderson & Lyman and one of its lawyers (collectively “H&L”), alleging that H&L gave negligent advice to several LLCs that Reynolds co-owned and managed. According to Reynolds, H&L’s bad advice led him to violate federal disclosure laws when he drafted the LLCs’ financial statements. The district court granted summary judgment to H&L, explaining that Reynolds could not bring a malpractice suit on his own behalf because he did not have a personal attorney-client relationship with H&L. We review that judgment de novo, construing the record in the light most favorable to Reynolds, see Whitfield v. Howard, 852 F.3d 656, 661 (7th Cir. 2017). We agree, however, with the district court’s analysis and so we affirm.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.