Miscellaneous Professional Liability

A local notary public routinely executed documents for clients at the copy shop where they worked part-time. One day, a group of known customers came in wanting some documents pertaining to the transfer of real property notarized. There were multiple signatories, and the notary missed that one of them, the purported transferor, was not physically present. The transferor later sued the group of customers, claiming they had unlawfully caused their property to be transferred. The copy shop and the notary were included as co-defendants for their alleged negligence in checking the signatures and identification documents of all signatories.

While working with a client, an insurance broker verbally recommended to the client’s representative that the company purchase additional coverage to protect itself against lawsuits by employees. No further discussion was had, and when the policy was renewed a few weeks later, the additional coverage was not purchased. Later that year, an employee filed a suit against the client company and was eventually resolved for an amount in excess of the client’s limits. The policyholder then sued the broker, claiming they were told their existing coverage was sufficient.

A logistics company hired a management consultant to evaluate operations and prepare a report with recommendations to address inefficiencies. The consultant completed the assignment and recommended that the business make significant changes to both its staffing model and its dispatch management system. After the logistics company implemented the consultant’s recommendations, several of the logistics company’s key clients expressed unhappiness with the changes and began moving their business elsewhere. The logistics company then sued the consultant, claiming they had failed to fully investigate and account for these issues.

A local notary public routinely executed documents for clients at the copy shop where they worked part-time. One day, a group of known customers came in wanting some documents pertaining to the transfer of real property notarized. There were multiple signatories, and the notary missed that one of them, the purported transferor, was not physically present. The transferor later sued the group of customers, claiming they had unlawfully caused their property to be transferred. The copy shop and the notary were included as co-defendants for their alleged negligence in checking the signatures and identification documents of all signatories.