Professional Liability

Gallo Vitucci Klar LLP and its attorneys are knowledgeable, experienced and highly skilled at managing large books of business for errors-and-omissions insurance, professional liability insurance and other forms of coverage. The firm provides all associated services to insured individuals and businesses, self-insured individuals and practices, their insurance carriers, and third-party administrators. The services include consulting; the prosecution and defense of claims through litigation, mediation, arbitration and appeals; and the management and defense of clients who are the subject of ethics investigations, professional management inquiries and prosecution, including those initiated by the Office of the Attorney General, The Office of Professional Medical Conduct, Bar Associations and government licensing bodies. GVK also provides professional practice, risk management and consulting services, and transactional services, and performs regulatory investigations.

Gallo Vitucci Klar’s attorneys are adept at navigating their clients through the complex mazes of professional liability claims that require a keen understanding of the interaction of insurance coverage, consent clauses, self-insured retentions and policies that provide coverage that is eroded and reduced through the incurrence of defense costs and expert fees.

Gallo Vitucci Klar LLP defends clients, directly and on behalf of their insurance carriers, in professional negligence and errors-and-omissions claims against professionals, including health care professionals, attorneys, accountants and accounting firms, architects and engineers, real estate professionals, insurance brokers, and insurance company agents.

Experience Representing Attorneys

Gallo Vitucci Klar’s attorneys have extensive experience and expertise representing attorneys who are alleged to have committed professional negligence, ethical violations or other breaches of their professional responsibilities and obligations. Legal malpractice claims present unique challenges for the attorneys defending and managing the cases, their clients, and the professional malpractice insurance carriers, and, as such, require only the most sophisticated and experienced legal practitioners. GVK’s attorneys are adept at identifying the significant issues, retaining the best experts and managing client expectations while zealously and aggressively defending the claims in a practical and pragmatic manner. The primary goal in managing these claims is often not to merely successfully defend the allegations asserted but to protect the clients’ financial interests and reputations while minimizing publicity that could deleteriously affect same while doing so. GVK’s highly experienced team successfully navigates its clients through these mine fields while defending these claims. GVK defends attorneys and their firms in a vast array of legal malpractice claims and disciplinary actions, ranging from general negligence and personal injury suits to the most complex matters involving condominium conversions, tax assessment and tax revaluations. GVK’s attorneys have also represented clients in matters involving fraud, breach of fiduciary duties, immigration proceedings, family law, divorce and adoption proceedings, defamation claims, estate planning, bankruptcy and conflicts of interest.

Attorneys Defense Case Results

Successfully defended a New York family law attorney in an administrative proceeding pertaining to a disciplinary complaint filed against him by a former client. The Complaint Mediation Panel of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York refused to take any action with respect to the disciplinary complaint, finding no basis to pursue same after hearings were conducted.
Successfully defended and obtained dismissal of legal malpractice suit in the Supreme Court, New York County. Plaintiff claimed that the defendant attorneys failed to adequately represent her interests in connection with a personal injury lawsuit related to a construction accident. Mr. Merber successfully defended the firm’s client, obtaining a dismissal of all claims.

Experience Representing Architects & Engineers

Gallo Vitucci Klar’s attorneys have extensive experience successfully defending architects and engineers in professional negligence claims. Many of these claims involve allegations related to construction defects. GVK is at the forefront of virtually all of the significant and most highly publicized claims involving crane accidents in the City and State of New York. GVK’s experienced, aggressive and court-savvy attorneys utilize their knowledge and reputations to identify and retain the most prominent experts to defeat and/or minimize the exposure faced by their clients in these high-profile law suits.

Architects & Engineers Defense Case Results

Successfully defended an engineering consulting company that designed the underpinning for new construction which was sued for structural damage to an adjacent building that subsequently shifted. Although the plaintiff sought millions of dollars for the cost of the alleged damages, repairs, business interruption and lost profits, the case was settled at mediation with only nuisance value contributed on behalf of GVK’s client.
Successfully defended and favorably resolved a matter for a geotechnical engineering firm that performed soil test borings in a parking lot that later developed holes in which the plaintiff allegedly fell and sustained injury. The case was settled at mediation with only the nominal sum of $5,000 paid on behalf of our client.
Defense verdict for architect and electrical contractor in the Supreme Court, Queens County. Plaintiff, a construction worker, fell while constructing a building as a result of a designed construction site and allegedly defectively placed rebar. Plaintiff sustained numerous orthopedic injuries requiring surgery. The jury dismissed the claims against GVK’s attorney’s client and apportioned 40% comparative negligence against the plaintiff.

Experience Defending Medical Malpractice Claims

Gallo Vitucci Klar’s attorneys have successfully litigated and defended medical malpractice claims against hospitals, ambulatory care centers, surgical centers, private physicians, nurse practitioners, midwives and other health care providers involving: internal medicine, orthopedic and orthopedic surgery, ophthalmology, cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, vascular surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, psychiatry, radiology, oncology, plastic surgery, geriatrics, podiatry, hematology, obstetrics and gynecology, pathology, gastroenterology, dentistry and emergency medicine. Our partners are members of a specialized team of attorneys assigned as national coordinating counsel by an international insurer to defend professional liability and tortious business practice claims asserted against professional practices, their principals and employees pending in 22 states and the District of Columbia. Learn more about our capabilities here.

Experience Defending Healthcare Professional Liability Claims

Gallo Vitucci Klar’s attorneys have successfully litigated and defended miscellaneous healthcare professional claims against entities such as nursing homes, home healthcare agencies, private ambulance companies, and massage therapists. These claims frequently overlap with medical malpractice and elder abuse claims, thus requiring extensive experience in a broad array of defense fields. As fellow professionals, Gallo Vitucci Klar recognizes that these types of lawsuits can effect a professional’s practice and professional standing in the community. We regularly retain top experts in the field to evaluate the lawsuits, and help us achieve the best settlement or outcome at trial possible.

Experience Defending Directors & Officers Litigation

Gallo Vitucci Klar LLP’s Directors & Officers (“D&O”) litigation practice group has successfully defended claims asserted against directors and officers of public, private and not-for-profit companies. We also represent the corporate entity where it is the direct target. Our practice extends to representing boards and individual directors and officers in complex commercial litigation, internal investigations, and government investigations. The attorneys at Gallo Vitucci Klar LLP that handle these cases are learned practitioners that are intimately familiar with the duties and responsibilities of directors and offices, as well as the myriad laws and statutes that regulate corporate governance.

We understand and are sensitive to the high-stakes nature of these lawsuits and are cognizant of the distractions that these claims may pose to the proper functioning of a corporate enterprise. We serve as trusted advisors to the board, individual directors and officers, and keep the insurers that retain us to defend, supervise and monitor these claims apprised of all material developments. Our experience includes, but is not limited to, class action litigation, defending shareholder derivative actions, litigating demand futility issues, representation of special litigation committees, securities class actions, ERISA claims, challenges to corporate governance, employment related claims, and claims for breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract and fraud. We also draft coverage opinions and litigate declaratory judgment actions pertaining to D&O insurance policies.