On August 17th, 2007, the state Supreme Court of Nebraska restored a jury decision regarding giving the owner of La Vista keno $1.6 million in a malpractice lawsuit against Nebraska's second biggest law firm. The Supreme Court decision gave Richard T. Bellino five times what the District Court judge of Douglas County scaled down the monetary award to.
A jury decided in October 2005 that lawyers James D. Wegner, William F. Hargens and the law firm did not correctly advise Bellino about how to sever ties from his business partner properly before opening another keno business. District Judge Patricia Lamberty scaled down the award to $229,000 dollars.
Bellino wanted to separate from his business partner Robert Anderson in La Vista Lottery and open a new business. His lawyers said to him that he should maintain a 50% stake on the business and open another business at the same time.
Anderson won the suit he filed against Bellino when the latter won a contract against La Vista Lottery to offer keno to the city. The lawsuit was based on a 1913 decision of the Supreme Court that an owner should have an absolute loyalty towards their business and they should not do anything to harm it.
The Nebraska Supreme Court commented that the jury's decision that Bellino's lawyer fees were bigger is correct because his attorneys advised him that they should appeal the case when he should not have pursued it.
[11-09]
John Sullivan
