Power Control Devices, Inc. v. Lerner

Arnold-Burger, J.:

In order to prevail in a claim of legal malpractice, "a plaintiff must establish the validity of the underlying claim by showing that it would have resulted in a favorable judgment in the underlying lawsuit had it not been for the attorney's error." Canaan v. Bartee , 276 Kan. 116 , 120, 72 P.3d 911 (2003). This is commonly referred to as proving the "case within a case." Here Power Control Devices (PCD) hired Michael "Mick" W. Lerner to represent it in a federal court breach of contract lawsuit against Orchid Technologies Engineering and Consulting (Orchid). The federal…