Smith v. Lewis

CLARK, J.—I dissent.

The evidence is insufficient to prove plaintiff lost $100,000 from her lawyer’s negligence in 1967. There is no direct evidence a well informed lawyer would have obtained an award of the husband’s pensions in the wife’s divorce, nor does the record provide such inference. Rather, the *366state of the law and the circumstances of the parties reveal lawyer Lewis reached a reasonable result for his client in 1967.

To establish liability for negligence, a plaintiff must show defendant’s negligence contributed to injury so that “but for” the negligence the injury would not have been…