The Intersection of Pop Culture and Legal Malpractice

By Will Jordan

It isn’t often that pop culture and the world of legal malpractice intersect. Naturally, when they do, we can’t help but blog about it. “Real Housewife of New Jersey” Teresa Giudice, who is currently serving a fifteen-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to fraud charges relating to her bankruptcy filing, is suing her bankruptcy attorney for legal malpractice. Giudice claims her attorney’s negligence in the handling of her bankruptcy petition ultimately resulted in her criminal prosecution. In our view, Giudice faces an uphill battle. As we’ve blogged about here, here, and here, a plaintiff who asserts that her attorney’s malpractice resulted in her criminal prosecution or conviction generally must establish actual innocence. Otherwise, she cannot establish that her attorney’s negligence proximately caused her any damage. Because Giudice plead guilty to the fraud charges, the defendant should have a pretty strong motion to dismiss.

You can read an article about the lawsuit here.