A new American Bar Association (“ABA”) survey finds that real estate lawyers are getting hit with malpractice claims at a rate greater than lawyers in any other practice area. It was the first time real estate lawyers were in the No. 1 spot in the latest analysis of malpractice claims that the ABA conducts every four years.

In an article published on the front page of The Plain Dealer on September 11, 2012, William M. Phillips, co-chair of Taft’s Real Estate Practice Group stated, “There are a lot of projects out there where either the tenants went out of business or the appraised values of the centers dropped precipitously. Everyone is looking for someone else to take the loss, and that extends to the attorneys.”

The survey found that 10,772 real estate malpractice claims were filed from 2008 – 2011, up 2,653 from the previous 4-year period. The figure also eclipsed personal injury, plaintiff malpractice claims by more than 2,500 claims in that period.

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