North Aurora man sues lawyer, arguing he fumbled product lawsuit
A North Aurora man is suing his former attorney, arguing the lawyer botched settlement negotiations over a faulty nail from a July 2009 hip surgery and the mistake now prohibits the man from seeking damages in a product liability lawsuit.
Gordon Deuchler's lawsuit in Kane County against attorney Patrick Flaherty and his firm seeks damages in excess of $50,000 and argues Flaherty was negligent and failed to provide competent legal representation.
According to the lawsuit, Deuchler had a nail put in his hip to fix a fracture in the upper part of his femur. In July 2013, the nail broke inside Deuchler's body without any external force or trauma, requiring at least two follow-up surgeries, the lawsuit states.
Deuchler retained the firm of Kinally and Flaherty in 2014 to pursue a product liability lawsuit against the manufacturer, Smith and Nephew. A lawsuit was filed in July 2015 and dismissed voluntarily by Deuchler on Aug. 5, 2015, to give both sides a year to reach an out-of-court settlement
On Aug. 4, 2016, both sides signed a "tolling agreement" to extend the time to reach a settlement from Aug. 1, 2016, through Nov. 1, 2016, without it counting against the statute of limitations for which to sue the manufacturer.
Despite the agreement, Flaherty did not refile the complaint before the Nov. 5, 2016, deadline and as a result, "Gordon is barred from recovering damages from Smith and Nephew, Inc., through a lawsuit, settlement or otherwise, for injuries and damages he suffered as a result of Smith and Nephews Inc.'s defective product," read part of the suit filed by attorney Emmet Fairfield.
Repeated messages left with Flaherty and Fairfield were not returned.
The two sides in the Deuchler litigation are due in court on Aug. 14.