Attorney Settles Malpractice Case, Admits No Wrongdoing
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A prominent defense attorney, Barry Scheck, yesterday settled a malpractice suit with a former client who claimed the lawyer botched his wrongful-imprisonment case.
Mr. Scheck had represented Lee Long, who was wrongfully imprisoned for a rape he did not commit, in a private lawsuit against the city. But Mr. Long’s suit was tossed out after Mr. Scheck missed a filing deadline. Mr. Long then sued Mr. Scheck last year for $3 million, claiming that the attorney’s mistake cost him millions.
The settlement calls for Mr. Long to receive $900,000 in return for ending the suit against Mr. Scheck and his law firm, according to a press release announcing the settlement. Under the terms of the settlement, according to the press release, Mr. Scheck admits no wrongdoing. The text of the actual settlement agreement was not publicly disclosed.
The malpractice suit drew widespread interest because Mr. Scheck is a leading expert on wrongful-imprisonment cases and DNA testing. Once a part of O.J. Simpson’s legal team, Mr. Scheck is co-founder of the Innocence Project at Cardozo Law School, which works to prove the innocence of the wrongfully convicted through DNA testing.
Mr. Scheck was not involved in freeing Mr. Long, who served six years for a rape that he did not commit. In 2000, a judge in Queens ordered his release. The release was based on the fact that evidence in support of Mr. Long’s alibi had been withheld.
Mr. Scheck took Mr. Long on as a client after his release, to represent Mr. Long in the lawsuit against the city.
The malpractice lawsuit has been bitterly litigated. Mr. Long has also claimed that Mr. Scheck waited for more than a year to tell him that he was liable for malpractice after he missed the deadline, according to court filings.
Mr. Long, 46 and in ill health, now lives near Birmingham, Ala. He will receive an additional $50,000 from the city, which also settled a separate civil rights lawsuit he had pending relating to his wrongful conviction, according to the press release. Whether it will be Mr. Scheck personally or his firm, Cochran, Neufeld & Scheck, that will have to pay the $900,000 was not immediately clear. As part of the terms of the settlement, the litigants agreed not to comment.
