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U.S. Supreme Court Granted Cert to Address Question of Federal Jurisdiction in Legal Malpractice Case

10/12/12

By: Dana Maine

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court granted cert in a case out of the Supreme Court of Texas, Minton v. Gunn, et al., 80 USLW 353547, 81 USLW 3028 (U.S. Oct. 5, 2012) (No. 11-1118).

The Court will decide whether the 5-3 Texas Supreme Court decision was correct in determining that exclusive federal court jurisdiction exists for legal malpractice claims arising out of a claim of negligent handling of a patent case.  The arguments will focus on whether the Court should overturn the rationale espoused by the Federal Circuit Court in Air Measurement Tech, Inc. v. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP, 504 F.3d 1262 (Fed. Cir. 2007) and Immunocept, LLC v. Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP, 504 F.3d 1281 (Fed. Cir. 2007).