For the third year in a row, Partners Michael McNamara and Kirsten Hicks Spira have been recognized as 2024 Top Professional Responsibility Lawyers by the Daily Journal. The annual award highlights the “top performing attorneys in legal malpractice matters and judicial representation.”
Michael’s profile highlights his national practice and experience representing lawyers and law firms for over 30 years.
“These early experiences showed me that these cases are extremely interesting. Every case arises from a different underlying area of law and involves compelling issues about standard of care, causation and damages,” Michael said.
Michael’s profile also highlights his recent work as lead counsel on cases that show a growing trend of claims by Trustees or Receivers against law firms in alleged “Ponzi scheme” cases.
“The biggest challenge we face in these types of cases is that they typically involve very significant amounts of potential damages,” Michael said. “Oftentimes, there is not enough insurance to cover the alleged damages, so the cases are very dangerous.”
Kirsten’s profile highlights her experience litigating malpractice actions, disqualification motions, employment disputes, and fraud actions.
“I’ve been handling professional responsibility cases for 20 years, but over the past eight years, the work has largely taken over my practice,” Kirsten said. “I’m humbled by this, as I see it as a real honor to be asked by other lawyers and law firms to represent them.”
“The work remains varied, complex, and interesting because issues arise in all types of situations (including ‘niche’ areas like patent prosecution or trusts and estates),” she added. “The claims range from malpractice to far less obvious claims such as fraud, defamation or even RICO. So no two cases are ever exactly alike.”
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