Professional Liability
R. Wayne Thorpe, Esq. has handled numerous mediations and arbitrations arising from claims of professional liability of lawyers, accountants, physicians and other medical professionals, investment professionals and other professionals, as well as many business and employment disputes involving these same types of professionals.
Mr. Thorpe has been a full-time ADR neutral since 1998. He has served as mediator, arbitrator, facilitator, special master, and case evaluator in roughly 2000 cases in at least 15 states, including many high stakes and complex cases, class actions, MDL’s, and other large scale multi-party cases, and more than 500 arbitrations as sole arbitrator, panel chair, or party-appointed arbitrator.
Mr. Thorpe was named by the Best Lawyers in America publication as the 2015 Atlanta Arbitration Lawyer of the Year and the 2012 Atlanta Mediation Lawyer of the Year, and he has been recognized by International Who’s Who of Commercial Mediation, Best Lawyers in America and Georgia Super Lawyers for a number of years.
He is Past Chair of the ABA Dispute Resolution Section, and he has been a leader in ADR ethics and other policy matters both nationally and in Georgia for many years. He has also served as an adjunct professor and guest presenter in ADR courses in several law schools. Before he became a full-time neutral, Mr. Thorpe was a litigation partner in a large Atlanta law firm.
Representative Matters
- Legal Professional Liability
- Receiver claim against lawyer for failure to comply with securities laws and misrepresentation of securities background; professional liability insurance dispute concerning applicability of securities exclusion
- Claims against lawyers for monetary sanctions, including mediation of Rule 11 claim against AmLaw 100 firm in patent case
- National restaurant company claim against counsel arising from alleged failure properly to extend store lease
- Claim against national employment law firm for alleged mishandling of sexual harassment cases
- Borrower claim for malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty in alleged unauthorized payment of closing funds to third party
- FDIC receiver claims against lawyers for malpractice in real estate transactions for failed banks
- Claims against insurers on financial institution bonds for alleged misconduct of outside real estate closing attorneys
- Failure to communicate settlement offer
- Fraudulent alteration of documents after contract closing
- Untimely court filing
- Unauthorized work, failure to settle, and repudiation of contingency fee contract
- Failure to follow escrow instructions
- Conflict of interest in alleged representation of both employer and employee
- Medical Professional Liability
- Dozens of mediations and arbitrations involving adult and children’s hospitals, nursing homes, doctors, dentists, nurses, a municipal detention facility, and other health care providers, including deaths and serious injuries and involving a wide variety of medical procedures, as well as related insurance coverage issues
- Mediations of 20 or more professional liability claims against public company nursing home operator in Chapter 11, pursuant to order of appointment by U.S. Bankruptcy Court
- Fraud and RICO claims in Louisiana brought by asbestos manufacturer against doctors and union officials for allegedly providing false health information to obtain personal injury settlements; coverage issues related to physician medical malpractice insurance
- Arbitration of dispute between Florida hospital and insurer over coverage for murder of patient by hospital nurse
- Civil rights and medical negligence case alleging wrongful death of detainee in municipal jail
- Other Professional Liability
- Arbitration of malpractice claim against Big Four accounting firm brought by a bankruptcy trustee
- Mediation of complex claims by school district against construction manager
- Lawsuit brought by work comp fund against adjusters/managers for alleged improper claims handling
- Pre-suit claim by casualty insurer against claims management/adjustment firm for improper handling
- Dispute between golf course developer and engineers concerning responsibility for wetlands issues in a major golf course development in North Georgia
- Cases against architects, engineers, and surveyors
- Dozens of mediations and arbitrations of customer claims, brought by individuals, retirement plans, trustee/executor under will, other fiduciaries, and non-profits against many different national brokerage firms, regional brokerage firms, banks, and investment advisers (See Financial Services Bio)
- Claims against directors and officers (See Financial Services Bio)
- Employment and Related Professional Practice Disputes
- Mediation and arbitration of cases involving partner withdrawal from law firms, involving race and gender discrimination, retirement and accounting disputes, including AmLaw 100 firms
- Mediations of disputes between hospitals and physicians concerning terminations of physicians and various other business and financial issues (See healthcare Bio)
- Sarbanes-Oxley claim against start-up biotech company brought by research physician employee
- Several mediations and arbitrations of disputes among physicians concerning break-up of practice (See Health Care Bio)
- Multiple mediations and arbitrations involving financial services professionals (See Banking bio)
