Collectible Judgment Not An Element Of Legal Malpractice Claim

The Louisiana Supreme Court has held that the plaintiff in a legal malpractice suit need not prove that the underlying lost judgment was collectible 

We granted this writ application to determine whether “collectibility” is a relevant consideration in a legal malpractice action. Specifically, we must decide whether plaintiff’s damages in this legal malpractice action are limited to the amount she could have actually collected on a judgment against the tortfeasor in the underlying lawsuit. For the following reasons, we answer these questions in the negative, holding proof of collectibility of an underlying judgment is not an element necessary for a plaintiff to establish a claim for legal malpractice, nor can collectibility be asserted by an attorney as an affirmative defense in a legal malpractice action.

The underlying case involved an automobile accident claim that had been dismissed as untimely filed.

The trial court granted summary judgment to the defendants on non-collectibility grounds.

The court of appeals reversed and was affirmed here

Moreover, applying the collectibility rule assumes that the underlying tortfeasor will remain insolvent or unable to pay for the life of the judgment. But impecunity is a snapshot in time. Under Louisiana law, a money judgment is valid for ten years and may be revived for successive ten-year periods if appropriate steps are taken. La. C.C. art. 3501.5 It would be inherently unfair to deprive the malpractice plaintiff of recovery against the negligent attorney if the underlying judgment would be collectible at a later point in time, within the statutory prescriptive period for satisfaction of a judgment.

A money judgment rendered against a tortfeasor has intrinsic value, regardless of collectibility of that judgment. We hold collectibility is not relevant to the correct measure of a legal malpractice plaintiff’s damages. This is consistent with the policy set forth by this court in Rodriguez v. Traylor, 468 So. 2d 1186, 1188 (La. 1985) that the financial condition of the defendant is not a proper consideration in the determination of compensatory damages. We will not allow a malpractice defendant to assert a defense based on the wealth or poverty of the underlying tortfeasor when a defendant in any other type of tort action could not assert a similarly based defense.

Justice Crain dissented

Thirty states have determined collectibility is relevant in a legal malpractice action. No state has reached a contrary conclusion, until now. In reaching this conclusion, the majority correctly observes there is no codal, statutory, or jurisprudential authority that requires it. Close scrutiny of the distinct causes of action and damages unique to such claims confirms that in this instance, our civilian traditions align with those of our common law neighbors.

A hypothetical

...assume an insolvent, uninsured driver rear-ends a world-class professional athlete rendering him a paraplegic, resulting in damages of $50 million. The plaintiff hires a lawyer to sue the insolvent, uninsured driver. Then, the lawyer misses the prescription date. The plaintiff sues the lawyer for legal malpractice. The lawyer has $50 million legal malpractice insurance coverage. What did the plaintiff lose, or what harm did the lawyer cause the plaintiff, when the lawyer failed to preserve the claim against the insolvent, uninsured driver? The lawyer did not cause the paraplegia, nor did he cause the loss of $50 million, as that money was clearly uncollectible. Instead, the plaintiff lost the right to obtain a judgment against the insolvent, uninsured driver in the amount of $50 million. The determinative question, then, by a trial court is: “What is the value of the ‘lost judgment’?” That value depends largely, if not totally, on the collectibility of the “lost judgment.” This quantum determination should be left to the trial court after considering the relevant collectibility evidence, which should not be barred by the bright-line rule adopted by the majority.

(Mike Frisch)