holding that attorney is not liable for error in judgment on points of new occurrence or of doubtful construction, or for mistaken opinion on point of law which has not been settled by court of last resort and as to which reasonable doubt may be entertained by informed lawyers
How later courts described this case
- holding that attorney is not liable for error in judgment on points of new occurrence or of doubtful construction, or for mistaken opinion on point of law which has not been settled by court of last resort and as to which reasonable doubt may be entertained by informed lawyers
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
CARTER, Justice
(concurring specially).
I concur in the result but for reasons different from those of the majority.
The issue of federal law presented in the present litigation is not a legal issue for the court but an issue of operative fact to be determined by the trier of fact. This is nonetheless so because the trier of fact is a jury. Juries should be permitted to determine issues of operative fact involving law in the same manner as issues involving medicine or other scientific data, i.e., by expert testimony in the case.
It is not the role of the judge in such cases, either in trial or on appeal, to conduct independent legal research on the issue of operative fact. The judge’s role is simply to determine whether there is sufficient conflict in the relevant and material evidence to present a jury issue. The evidence in the present case concerning this issue of operative fact was conflicting, and the district court did not err in submitting the case to the jury.