A legal malpractice insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify attorneys who were sanctioned for filing frivolous lawsuits against four Ohio school districts, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.
The appellate panel on Friday affirmed a ruling by a US District Court judge in Cleveland that an award of attorney fees against the Roderick Linton Belfance law firm was a “sanction” excluded by a professional liability insurance policy issued by Wesco Insurance Co.
The panel said that “thousands” of cases reveal that “the legal community routinely describes an attorney’s fees award as a ‘sanction’ when a court grants it because of abusive litigation tactics.”
“This fact dooms the request for insurance coverage by the two lawyers who filed this appeal,” the opinion says.
Three attorneys with the Roderick law firm — Jason Wallace, Daniel Bache and Kristopher Immel —filed separate claims against the Akron, Solon, Nordonia Hills and Cleveland Heights school districts in northern Ohio, alleging that they had failed to provide an appropriate education to handicapped students.The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act allows parents to file civil rights lawsuits against schools that don’t comply with federal guidelines, but they must first exhaust administrative remedies.
IDEA allows courts to award fees to attorneys who bring successful lawsuits, but also allows school districts to sue attorneys who file baseless claims to recoup amounts spent on defending themselves.
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