Beach Boy Al Jardine Sues Attorneys Over Previous Case

06/07/2002 10:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Matt Ashare

(6/7/02, 10 a.m. ET) -- Former Beach Boys member Al Jardine filed a lawsuit against his attorney and his firm in regards to a 1999 Beach Boys trademark-infringement case. On Wednesday (June 5), Jardine filed a lawsuit against Vincent H. Chieffo and other related defendants in Los Angeles Superior Court, citing legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty.

The matter goes back to a 1999 litigation in which Jardine was sued by the Beach Boys' Brother Records for trademark infringement stemming from use of the Beach Boys name. Jardine filed a counterclaim asserting a breach of contract claim. Chieffo and the other acting attorneys advised Jardine at the time to amend the counterclaim to assert an additional and different claim for breach of fiduciary duty. Jardine authorized the defendants to do so, but for whatever reason, the defendants failed to file a motion for leave to amend the counterclaim until the spring of 2001.

In April 2001, the court denied the motion because it was not filed in a timely fashion. As a consequence of the defendants' conduct, Jardine was unable to file the breach of fiduciary duty claim in the federal action, which Jardine alleges would have resulted in an award of damages.

The suit alleges that, as a result of the defendants' legal malpractice, Jardine has suffered general and special damages believed to exceed $1 million. Jardine is also seeking damages for emotional distress.

-- Sue Falco, New York

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