Bolton v. Trope

Opinion

ARMSTRONG, J.

Plaintiff Dillon Bolton appeals the judgment entered following the trial court’s grant of a motion for nonsuit in favor of defendants Eugene L. Trope, Trope & Trope, David R. Glickman, and Glickman & Glickman in this action for legal malpractice. Finding no error, we affirm the judgment.

Facts

The underlying litigation

Bolton was involved in an automobile accident on Pacific Coast Highway in April 1991 when Joan Knapp lost control of her car as she was reaching for one of her dogs. Bolton’s head hit both the windshield of his vehicle and the driver’s side window. Both automobiles were declared total losses.

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Approximately two weeks after the accident, Bolton retained Eugene L. Trope and his law firm, Trope & Trope, to represent him in a personal injury lawsuit against Knapp. In approximately October 1992, Trope associated David R. Glickman and his firm, Glickman & Glickman, into the case. In the spring of 1994, Bolton declined two settlement offers from Knapp’s insurance company, of $30,000 and $35,000, which his attorneys recommended he accept. On June 29, 1994, the trial court granted motions filed by defendants to withdraw as counsel for Bolton.

Bolton was unable to secure successor counsel. On September 9, 1994, shortly before the trial was to commence, Bolton settled the lawsuit for $40,000. Bolton filed this action for legal malpractice nine months later. He contends “that the defendant attorneys committed legal malpractice by failing to secure and/or designate appropriate forensic mental health experts, including a neuropsychologist, to present his brain injury/cognitive impairment claim . . . .”

Medical evaluations

Trope initially referred Bolton to Michael Blumenkrantz, M.D., Trope’s internist, who in turn referred Bolton to Clarke David Espy, M.D., a neurologist. Espy examined Bolton two weeks after the accident, and reported that Bolton had numerous subjective complaints with no objective findings. Espy concluded that he could find nothing significant and that Bolton’s symptoms should subside in a matter of weeks. Espy suggested that Bolton might want to see an orthopedist or, if he preferred, a chiropractor, for evaluation. Espy made no mention of a neuropsychologist.