Fiorentino v. Rapoport

In Fiorentino v. Rapoport (Pa. Sup. 1997) 693 A.2d 208, Fiorentino sued his attorney for legal malpractice relating to the sale of Fiorentino's business, known as J & R. Fiorentino testified "he told the defendants that his primary concern was receiving all the money owed to him for the sale of his interest in J & R. Furthermore, Fiorentino testified that he specifically instructed the defendants that he wanted them to draft the agreement of sale 'to make sure I got paid.'" Despite these instructions, the documents drafted by the attorneys permitted the purchaser of the business to avoid payment by transferring assets away from J & R and into a corporation owned by his family members, thus bankrupting J & R and eliminating the resources from which the payments were to be made to Fiorentino. The trial court granted nonsuit on the ground Fiorentino had failed to prove harm. (Fiorentino, supra, 693 A.2d at p. 214.)