HeplerBroom attorneys Gerard T. Noce and Justin L. Assouad prevailed in a legal malpractice case they defended on behalf of Rodney Sharp and Sandberg, Phoenix and vonGontard, P.C. Law Firm. Plaintiff Hamid Hosseini, M.D., a board-certified OB-GYN, claimed that Rodney Sharp was negligent in his defense of Dr. Hosseini in the underlying medical malpractice/wrongful death case. Dr. Hosseini argued that Rodney Sharp had a duty to ask Hosseini about available private insurance coverage for the underlying malpractice claim after the insurance carrier that initially retained Mr. Sharp (TRA) became insolvent. Mr. Sharp sought a stay in the underlying matter pursuant to the TRA receivership order entered by a court in Tennessee. Before the stay expired, Mr. Sharp withdrew from the underlying case and advised Hosseini to retain his own personal counsel. Eight months after Mr. Sharp withdrew, Dr. Hosseini finally retained counsel after a default was entered against him. The new counsel tendered the defense of the malpractice claim to Dr. Hosseini’s private insurance carrier. That carrier later denied coverage -- claiming that Dr. Hosseini failed to timely report the claim. The underlying case was eventually bench tried. A judgment was entered against Dr. Hosseini in the amount of $770,604. Dr. Hosseini later filed suit against Rodney Sharp and SPvG. Mr. Noce and Mr. Assouad argued that it was Dr. Hosseini’s duty to report the claim to his private insurer. On March 16, 2009, a St. Louis County jury rejected Dr. Hosseini’s negligence claim and returned a defendants’ verdict for Rodney Sharp and SPvG.

Missouri Lawyers Weekly article about case

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