CHARLESTON -- A Bellaire, Ohio, man is suing Neiswonger & White Law Officers after he claims the law firm failed to do anything with his lawsuit and allowed it to be dismissed after there was no activity for more than one year after it was filed.
David C. White, an employee of Neiswonger & White, was also named as a defendant in the suit.
Henry Martin retained the defendants to represent him in a lawsuit in Kanawha County against the West Virginia Racing Commission in 2009, according to a complaint filed Aug. 9 in Kanawha Circuit Court.
Martin claims the defendants took no steps whatsoever to prosecute the lawsuit they had filed on his behalf and the case was dismissed on Aug. 10, 2011 because there was no activity in the actions for a period of more than one year.
As a result of the defendants' failure to take any action, even the most minimal, to prosecute the case they had filed on Martin's behalf, Martin's cause of action was dismissed and he suffered injuries, damages and losses, according to the suit.
Martin claims the defendants had a duty of reasonable care in their representation of him and were negligent in their conduct.
The defendants also breached their contract with Martin and breached their fiduciary duty to him, according to the suit.
Martin is seeking compensatory damages with pre- and post-judgment interest. He is being represented by Robert J. Frank.
The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge James C. Stucky.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 12-C-1594