Evidence-Legal Malpractice

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WI Court of Supreme Court

Case Name: Allsop Venture Partners III v. Murphy Desmond SC

Case No.: 2020AP000806

Officials: Brian Hagedorn, J.

Focus: Evidence-Legal Malpractice

This is a review of certain evidentiary determinations and other related issues following a jury verdict in a legal malpractice trial. This matter arose when a media company entered into a seemingly tax-friendly sale— —dubbed a “midco transaction”——with the assistance of three entities: a tax law firm, an accounting firm, and corporate law firm Murphy Desmond SC (Murphy Desmond). The deal closed and the shareholders received their payout, but the favorable arrangement fell apart when the IRS came after the shareholders for taxes and penalties. Three shareholders (collectively the Shockleys) intervened in litigation against all three assisting entities and brought their own claims of legal malpractice, negligence, and fraud. The Shockleys later settled with the tax and accounting firms, signed a Pierringer release, and amended their complaint to remove the allegations against them. All that remained were legal malpractice-related claims against Murphy Desmond.

Decided 06/02/23

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