I was the plaintiff in an arbitration that sought to enforce a contract for a business deal. Due to drafting errors on the part of my attorney, the contract was found to be unenforceable. At the hearing, we relied on a sole economic expert and report to prove damages. We lost.
I then sued the attorney who drafted the contract. A jury found that the drafting errors caused the contract to fail. However, the award was a nominal amount. Our problem arose from the economic expert. At trial, he refused to acknowledge copies of his report and claimed he threw away his entire case file. He made these same statements at his deposition and my attorney should have hired another expert. As such, I am now suing my malpractice attorney.
My question involves an issue from the first malpractice trial. The Judge did not allow the expert's report to be admitted. But, my attorney was successful in admitting a post-arbitration brief that contained a summary of the calculations used in the report. In the jury instructions, the jurors were expressly told not to consider inadmissible evidence. How do you reconcile the evidence provided in the post-arbitration brief with the order not to consider inadmissible evidence? As a matter of law, did the jury possess evidence that it could use to calculate damages? Or, since the report was inadmissible, is all other documentation referencing the report bad evidence?
I then sued the attorney who drafted the contract. A jury found that the drafting errors caused the contract to fail. However, the award was a nominal amount. Our problem arose from the economic expert. At trial, he refused to acknowledge copies of his report and claimed he threw away his entire case file. He made these same statements at his deposition and my attorney should have hired another expert. As such, I am now suing my malpractice attorney.
My question involves an issue from the first malpractice trial. The Judge did not allow the expert's report to be admitted. But, my attorney was successful in admitting a post-arbitration brief that contained a summary of the calculations used in the report. In the jury instructions, the jurors were expressly told not to consider inadmissible evidence. How do you reconcile the evidence provided in the post-arbitration brief with the order not to consider inadmissible evidence? As a matter of law, did the jury possess evidence that it could use to calculate damages? Or, since the report was inadmissible, is all other documentation referencing the report bad evidence?
