KMS Partners Chip Cressey and Rick Wirick Prevail on Summary Judgment

After being convicted in state court of burglary and receiving an 8 year sentence, Plaintiff sued the State of California for false imprisonment. After the state’s motion for nonsuit was granted at the close of Plaintiff’s case in chief, Plaintiff sued his civil rights attorney arguing that the attorney had negligently failed to file a timely notice of appeal. KMS Partners Chip Cressey and Rick Wirick defended the civil rights attorney in the subsequent legal malpractice case. Cressey and Wirick ultimately succeeded in dismissing Plaintiff’s case on summary judgment, arguing that Plaintiff could not carry his burden of showing that, but for the failure to timely file a notice of appeal, he would have been awarded a new trial. In granting summary judgment in favor of KMS and Defendant, the Court held that Plaintiff had demonstrated through discovery that he had no evidence sufficient to meet his burden.