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Legal Updates for Lawyers' Professional Liability

Legal Updates for Lawyers’ Professional Liability – RESULTS

Legal Updates for Lawyers’ Professional Liability – March 2026

March 1, 2026

Jack Slimm successfully represented our client, the board of trustees of a condo association, in a chancery action. The trial took place over a period of weeks in the summer of 2025. On February 5, 2026, following post-trial motions, the Chancery Court issued its order and opinion dismissing plaintiffs’ complaint.

The matter arose from a contested election concerning the board of trustees, and the procedures and conduct underlying an election in August 2024. The plaintiffs were longtime unit owners seeking to reform and increase transparency in the governance. The plaintiffs filed a complaint challenging the integrity of the 2024 board of trustees election, and the legality of the election rules and procedures adopted by the board. The plaintiffs sought to invalidate the 2024 election results, repeal the governing rules, and compel the association to enact new procedures for future elections. The plaintiffs alleged that the board adopted new election rules in a resolution which eliminated safeguards such as signature verification, etc. Additionally, they alleged that the rules facilitated irregularities, such as casting of ballots by ineligible voters, harvesting and collection of ballots in unofficial settings, duplicative voting, and denial of opportunities for later submitted legitimate ballots to be counted.

After numerous trial days, the judge dismissed the plaintiffs’ complaint against the board in its entirety. The court entered judgment on the merits in favor of our client. The court also upheld the election results and denied plaintiffs’ request for injunctive and prospective relief for repeal of election procedures, new election rules, and court supervision over future elections. In addition, the court denied plaintiffs’ claims for attorneys’ fees and costs.

*Prior Results Do Not Guarantee a Similar Outcome

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Appellate Division Affirms Dismissal of Legal Malpractice Counterclaim Against Martin Law Firm

In Martin v. Loury, 2026 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1617 (App. Div. July 15, 2026), Martin Law Firm represented Kirk Loury in an employment matter Mr. Loury filed against his former employer, Concord Equity Group Advisors LLC (“Concord”). The allegations included, among other things, that Loury was not fairly compensated for his employment with Concord. After a bench trial finding in Loury’s favor, the Appellate Division remanded this matter in February 2016 for a second trial. During the second trial, Concord CEO, Lee Argush, testified to lower compensation estimate than first trial. On remand, the second trial judge awarded Mr. Loury the same damages as the first judge, finding Mr. Argush not credible. After the findings during the second trial, Martin Law Firm filed an action against Mr. Loury to recover legal fees and costs of representing Mr. Loury in a second bench trial and Mr. Loury filed a counterclaim against Martin Law Firm for legal malpractice, alleging he should have received an even higher award in the second bench trial. In this allegation, Mr. Loury, through his expert, claimed that Martin Law Firm should have recalled Mr. Loury to the stand to rebut Mr. Argush’s testimony to allege an alternative theory of damages. Mr. Loury’s expert admitted that the second judge already rejected Mr. Argush's theory and accepted Loury's damages theory. The trial court barred Mr. Loury’s expert and dismissed Loury's counterclaim with prejudice before convening the collection trial, and the jury ruled in Martin Law Firm’s favor. Mr. Loury appealed the trial court's pretrial rulings barring his liability expert from testifying in support of his legal malpractice counterclaim, denying his motion for summary judgment on that counterclaim, and denying his motion to amend his counterclaim by adding attorney Joseph A. Martin as a codefendant. In affirming the trial court’s decision, the Appellate Division held that the trial court properly excluded Loury’s expert testimony in the counterclaim against Martin Law Firm because the expert could not explain how calling Loury as a rebuttal witness would have increased damages when the second judge already rejected Mr. Argush's testimony and accepted Loury's damages theory, making the expert’s causation opinion speculative. The Appellate Division also held that the trial court properly denied Mr. Loury's summary judgment motion on his malpractice counterclaim because reasonable minds could differ on whether Mr. Martin's alleged failures would have changed the second judge's damages award, given the judge already found Mr. Argush not credible, creating genuine factual disputes precluding summary judgment. Also, the Appellate Division held that the trial court properly denied Loury's May 2023 motion to add Joseph Martin individually because the statute of limitations expired in February 2022, six years after the 2016 appellate remand when Mr. Loury incurred new legal costs, and relation back did not apply because Mr. Loury knew Mr. Martin's identity throughout and strategically chose to sue only Martin Law Firm in his 2019 counterclaim.