Lawsuits (Tampa edition)

Lawsuits (Tampa edition)

UnsettledA Miami company has accused Tampa attorney A. Christopher Kasten II and his former law firm, Allen Dell PA, of legal malpractice.Miami Transfer Co. Inc. claims it would have settled for the $2,500 that Jeffrey R. Nutting purportedly offered in June 2001 to settle a civil action in the 13th Judicial Circuit.The malpractice suit, filed in December, only tells part of the story, says Kasten, an attorney at Tampa-based Bush Ross Gardner Warren & Rudy PA. "It was a $1.3 million claim, and it was mediated three separate times," he says. However, officials at the Miami-based heavy-equipment hauler claim they didn't know about the proposed settlement until it was too late. "I deny it was not raised to the client," Kasten says.Allen Dell shareholders support Kasten's contention. "We agree completely with Mr. Kasten, and in our view this is a classic case of someone who chose to go to trial and was unhappy with the result," says shareholder Richard A. Harrison. "We had multiple mediations, and this guy turned down as much as $50,000." Miami Transfers wants the court to award damages in excess of $15,000.

Suspended