Phila. injury lawyer sued by former client for not filing timely claim

A Philadelphia woman who claims the attorney she retained to represent her in a

personal injury case arising out of a slip-and-fall incident failed to timely file a claim on her behalf has filed suit against the lawyer for failure to follow up on her case.

Catherine Greer claims in her civil action, which was filed June 26 at Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas by Philadelphia attorneys John A. Lord and Frank Breitman, of the firm Silvers, Langsam & Weitzman, that personal injury lawyer Jeffrey R. Lessin failed to follow up on Greer’s personal injury claim arising out of a fall the plaintiff suffered in downtown Philadelphia on Feb. 12, 2006.

According to the complaint, Greer had been walking along the sidewalk of the U.S. Post Office at 9^th and Market Streets in Philadelphia when she fell as the result of an accumulation of snow and ice.

The fall resulted in Greer allegedly sustaining various bodily injuries.

Greer had accused a business identified as Elwyn Industries of negligence for failing to remove the snow and ice from the area traversed by pedestrians.

Following the incident, Greer retained the services of Lessin and his law firm, Jeffrey R. Lessin Associates, to represent her in her personal injury claim, the latest lawsuit states.

Lessin agreed to represent Greer, even having the plaintiff sign a contingent fee agreement setting forth the terms of the defendant’s representation of Greer.

The statute of limitations for filing a civil claim would have been Feb. 11, 2008, two years after the alleged incident occurred.

The lawsuit claims that Lessin and his firm failed to settle Greer’s claim or initiated a civil complaint within the applicable statute of limitations.

“The Defendants’ act and omission regarding their representation of the Plaintiff violated the standard of care required of Pennsylvania attorneys representing client[s] with claims such as those of the Plaintiff’s herein,” the suit states. “As a result of defendant’s aforesaid failure, plaintiff has been denied the opportunity to recover money damages for the losses she sustained as a result of the negligence of third parties.”

Greer seeks $50,000 in damages.

An arbitration hearing has been set for March 5 of next year.

 

The case ID number 120603363.