8th CIRCUIT AFFIRMS DISMISSAL OF $200 MILLION LEGAL MALPRACTICE CLAIM AGAINST ANTHONY OSTLUND CLIENTS

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a summary judgment ruling obtained by Anthony Ostlund attorneys Brooke Anthony, Joe Anthony, and Norm Pentelovitch, dismissing plaintiff’s claim for more than $200 million in damages for alleged legal malpractice against a large national law firm and one of its partners.
The appellate win followed nearly five years of litigation involving claims for legal malpractice and a variety of business torts. Though the tort claims were resolved early in the case, the plaintiff pursued its malpractice claim despite there being no evidence of an attorney-client relationship or of any legal services being provided to the plaintiff. The district court granted summary judgment, finding that plaintiff lacked standing to bring the suit, had failed to disclose that foreign law would be at issue in the case, and that no attorney-client relationship existed between plaintiff and Anthony Ostlund’s clients.
On appeal, the 8th Circuit agreed that plaintiff lacked standing and had not given adequate notice of foreign law issues. The ruling affirms important principles regarding who has standing to bring a lawsuit, and the application of Fed. R. Civ. P. 44.1 when foreign law may become an issue in a case.