Four suits filed against law firm alleging negligence

 

 

WINFIELD – Four lawsuits have been filed against Armada, Rogers & Thompson for allegedly negligently providing legal representations and professional services.

The defendants in the cases include Frank M. Armada, J. Robert Rogers, William D. Thompson and the law firm Armada, Rogers & Thompson.

Janet Shaffer and Terry Shaffer; Effie Jean Chaffin, administratrix of the Estate of Jack Chaffin; Laura Nash and James Nash; and Joan Carr and Tim Carr separately hired the defendants for legal representation and professional services for claims arising out of medical care provided by Dr. John A. King and Putnam General Hospital in 2002 and 2003, according to four complaints filed Dec. 10 in Putnam Circuit Court.

The plaintiffs claim on Oct. 24, 2006, and Oct. 25, 2006, the Armada firm filed complaints on their behalf. However, the complaints were filed more than two years after the claims arose and were thus barred by the statute of limitations, the suits say.

The defendants negligently, carelessly and in deviation from applicable standards, breached their contractual obligations to provide competent legal representation to the plaintiffs, according to the suit, and negligently failed to supervise the co-defendants or employees of their law firm to insure that the plaintiffs received competent legal representation.

The plaintiffs claim as a result of the defendants’ negligence, breach of contract and deviation from applicable standards, they have lost their rights to pursue monetary recovery for the claims asserted in their complaints filed in 2006.

The defendants represented themselves to the public as a professional partnership for the practice of law and because of this, the plaintiffs acted in good faith and in reliance upon the defendants’ reputation, according to the suit.

The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages. They are being represented by Bruce L. Freeman.

The cases have been assigned to Circuit Judges Joseph Reeder and Phillip Stowers.

Putnam Circuit Court case numbers: 12-C-396, 12-C-397, 12-C-398, 12-C-399