ATLAS TACK CORPORATION vs. RALPH DONABED & others. 1 , 47 Mass. App. Ct. 221

Summary

Plaintiff commenced an action against defendants seeking to hold them vicariously liable for the alleged malpractice of another attorney in negotiating a settlement agreement on plaintiff's behalf in an engineering malpractice case. Plaintiff appealed an order granting summary judgment in favor of defendants and the allowance of a motion to strike a portion of its answer to defendants' expert witness interrogatory, a sanction for plaintiff's noncompliance with a discovery order. The appeals court affirmed because plaintiff could not establish its causation element without the expert's testimony. The court held that engineering, like other complex professions, required presentation of expert testimony. The court further held that the testimony of plaintiff's legal expert alone was insufficient to establish the professional engineering standard of care. Since the court essentially had to conduct a trial within a trial, an engineering expert was need to establish the element of causation....