Scott B. Garner

Scott B. Garner is a partner at Umberg Zipser LLP. In one recent case, he represented a large law firm client in a jury trial and obtained a complete defense verdict. The allegations against the law firm were that they mishandled an arbitration over the termination of a physician.

Garner convinced the jury that the lawyers met the standard of care and that nothing the lawyers did caused the plaintiff any damages.

In another case, Garner represented the plaintiff against his former lawyer and obtained a jury verdict against the lawyer for $47 million. The case involved the lawyer’s breach of fiduciary duty and interference with contract in representing a competitor trying to purchase the same business as her former client while trashing her former client to state regulators.

“In the case with the $47 million verdict, one of our biggest challenges was trying to get information from a very uncooperative government agency in order to prove that the lawyer had been trashing her former client to that agency,” Garner said. “Eventually, after numerous court orders, we obtained communications — including some very helpful text messages — between the lawyer and one of the state regulators.”

Looking ahead, one area he said he has seen really grow recently is claims of probate malpractice.

“Specifically, these involve claims where one heir is unhappy with his or her inheritance and sues the law firm and/or lawyer who drafted the trust documents,” Garner said. “I have defended a number of clients recently, and it is clear that lawyers are becoming more hesitant to even go into this area of law given the risks that some disgruntled heir will look for a scapegoat with a deep pocket.”