Ziegelheim v. Apollo

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

HANDLER, J.

In this case we must decide what duties an attorney owes a client when negotiating a settlement and whether a client’s agreement to a negotiated settlement bars her from recovering from her attorney for the negligent handling of her case.

I

Miriam Ziegelheim, plaintiff, and Irwin Ziegelheim were married on September 11, 1955, and were divorced by a final decree dated August 5, 1983. During the early years of their marriage, Mrs. Ziegelheim was gainfully employed, assisting her husband in his business ventures and working for other employers as…