$250,000 Awarded in Legal Malpractice Case
$250,000 Awarded in Legal Malpractice Case
A New York federal judge upheld a magistrate's report and recommendation and awarded $250,000 to a man who said he wrongly spent 25 days in a mental hospital and his lawyer failed to file the necessary paperwork to compensate him for that time.
Charles Robinson, now deceased, was formerly employed by Metro-North railroad, when Metro-North forced him to undergo drug treatment at Oracle Square Hospital. While at the hospital, Robinson said he was assaulted, threatened and mentally abused by inmates and staff there.
After being released, Robinson filed a state lawsuit against Metro-North and the hospital for over $100 million. Robinson retained attorney Campbell Holder to represent him. However, when Metro-North filed a motion for summary judgment seeking to dismiss the suit, holder failed to file an answer. The New York Supreme Court dismissed the case, finding that Holder "willfully disregarded the court's repeated directives,"
Following Robinson's death, his estate filed suit against Holder and his law firm seeking $117 million to represent the amount lost when Holder failed to oppose Metro-North's summary judgment motion.
The court rejected that amount, citing that it was more than Robinson asked for in his state suit.
It instead awarded his estate $10,000 per day for each of the 25 days Robinson spent at Oracle Square, for a total of $250,000; the court said that "was an appropriate measure of damages for Charles Robinson's loss of liberty"
Holder, now incarcerated himself after being convicted of several fraud charges in New York, also did not defend himself in Robinson's suit against him. See: Robinson v. Holder, U.S.D.C. (S.D.N.Y), Case No. 07-Civ. 5992 (DLC).
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Related legal case
Robinson v. Holder
| Year | 2008 |
|---|---|
| Cite | U.S.D.C. (S.D.N.Y), Case No. 07-Civ. 5992 (DLC). |
| Level | District Court |
| Conclusion | Bench Verdict |
| Damages | 250,000.00 |