FORMER HOUSE OF REPS MEMBER DRAGS SAN TO COURT FOR PROFESSIONAL NEGLIGENCE
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Hon. Austin Nwachukwu, a former member of the House of Reps from Imo State has sued Chief Chukwuma Ekomaru, SAN in the High Court of FCT for gross professional negligence in failing to sign the Writ of Summons with which the said SAN instituted an action against ARIK AIR in Abuja High Court on behalf of Hon. Nwachukwu.
In suit no CV/073/18 filed for the plaintiff by the Law Firm of West-Idahosa & Co, the plaintiff is claiming against the Defendant several reliefs, including a declaration that the Defendant breached his duty of care to him by not exercising reasonable care in failing to sign the Writ of Summons filed in court on plaintiff’s behalf and for which reason the Court of Appeal set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court in suit no FHC/ABJ/273/10 awarding the plaintiff the sum of five million naira as damages against ARIK AIR who refused to airlift the plaintiff when he presented himself for that purpose after buying a Business class ticket.
The plaintiff is also seeking to be refunded the professional fees paid to the Defendant in addition to the payment of millions of naira as exemplary damages for professional misconduct and negligence.
In the suit the plaintiff accused the Defendant of dishonesty by abandoning his case after being paid a substantial part of the agreed professional fees which led plaintiff to engage the services of another lawyer. In the Statement of Claim, the Plaintiff alleged that after making documents available to the Defendant in a bid to brief him to handle another election petition for him, the Defendant rushed to his opponent in the said petition and accepted the brief to defend the petition against plaintiff.
Plaintiff pleaded, that on each day his case in court against ARIK conflicted with the election petition hearing, Defendant would abandon his case against ARIk in which he represented Plaintiff as counsel to defend the election petition in which he subsequently represented plaintiff’s opponent having been originally briefed by the plaintiff to represent him in prosecuting the election petition . No date has been fixed for hearing.
@ I-Judicial Reporters.