Law Offices of John C. Lane
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Professional Liability
See cases involving Architects’ and Engineers’ Liability under Construction Litigation Case Histories
Attorneys Held to Share Liability with Real Estate Broker
We successfully defended a real estate broker in southern New Jersey, accused of touting a parcel of unimproved land as perfectly suited for commercial development. Unbeknownst to the realtor and the seller, the land was virtually unbuildable, as some 90 percent of the parcel was determined to be Wetland. The buyer sued the seller and our client. We impleaded the buyer’s attorneys, alleging that the attorneys had the primary responsibility to protect their client and to arrange for the appropriate inspections and investigations before allowing their client to make the purchase. The real estate attorneys moved for summary judgment, urging that our claim against them failed to state a cause of action. The Superior Court denied their motion, agreeing with us that under recent New Jersey precedent, the real estate attorneys owed a duty not only to the buyer-client, but also to the realtor, our client, to investigate the transaction and counsel against it if the investigations proves that the property cannot be used. A very favorable settlement followed, with a very large contribution from the real estate attorneys’ errors and omissions insurer.
MEDQ Litigation, Superior Court of New Jersey, 2004
