The lawsuit alleges mistakes made early in the case blocked the client from recovering damages. Photo: Royalty free.

A lawsuit over unpaid commission from a Tallahassee real estate deal has spiraled into a legal malpractice case in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, where a disgruntled former client alleges its lawyers wasted valuable time by suing the wrong defendants.

Evan H. Frederick of Morgan & Morgan's Business Trial Group in West Palm Beach represents plaintiff Plaza Tower Realty Group LLC, which hired Tallahassee real estate, family and business law firm Boyd & Durant P.L. in August 2009 to recover $750,000 for its work securing buyers for a high-rise condominium building.

But although the firm did file suit, it allegedly went after the wrong parties — a mistake the complaint claims proved fatal down the line.

Defendants Boyd & Durant and two of its partners, Joseph Durant and James Boyd, did not respond to a request for comment by deadline. No attorney has entered an appearance for them, according to online case files.

The complaint is not visible online, pending review for redaction. However, the Daily Business Review obtained a copy, which plaintiffs attorney Frederick confirmed is the same as the one filed.

'Too little, too late'

The lawsuit claims Boyd & Durant sued the project's developer and escrow agent instead of its lender, Union Labor Life Insurance Co., and its subsidiary, 300 South Duval Associates LLC, which had actually received and held the money the plaintiff was contesting.

The correct parties only made it onto the lawsuit four and half years later when Plaza Tower Realty hired new lawyers, according to the complaint. And after a trial in November 2019, jurors found those claims had no legs because they were filed outside of a four-year statute of limitations.

"By the time our client was able to add the proper parties to their lawsuit, it was too little too late," Frederick said. "As a result of their alleged failure, Plaza Tower Realty could not recover the $750,000 in damages it was awarded by the jury, plus more than $430,000 in prejudgment interest."

The complaint alleges at least one attorney knew who the correct parties were by September 2009, but instead of adding them as defendants reportedly reached an "informal agreement" with the escrow agent's lawyer to stay the litigation until a related foreclosure suit against the developer had concluded.

"An attorney's most basic task is to file a client's claim in a timely manner," Frederick said. "We allege the defendants were negligent in performing their duties while representing Plaza Tower Realty and wasted precious time in going after the wrong entities."

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Alan Fine will preside over the lawsuit, which accuses the defendants of professional negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.

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