Allison Lane

Partner

  • Allison Lane
  • Phone: +1 415 957 3045

    Import to Address Book

  • Duane Morris LLP
    Spear Tower
    One Market Plaza, Suite 2200
    San Francisco, CA 94105-1127
    USA

Allison Lane practices in the area of litigation with a focus on professional liability and commercial disputes. Ms. Lane defends large and mid-size national and regional law firms, both in state and federal courts and private arbitration, against professional liability, breach of fiduciary duty, malicious prosecution, and related claims. She also provides pre-suit and risk management advice. She has defended clients in legal malpractice cases arising out of all manner of underlying cases, including patent disputes, securities fraud, Ponzi schemes, transactional malpractice, litigation errors, aiding and abetting liability, claims by bankruptcy trustees, and ethical and fiduciary duty issues.

Ms. Lane is a 1990 graduate of the University of Florida College of Law, where she was associate editor of the University of Florida Journal of Law and Public Policy, and a graduate, with high honors, of the University of Florida. She writes and speaks on professional liability issues for the American Bar Association, and serves on the Executive Committee of the Bar Association of San Francisco's Legal Malpractice Section.

Representative Matters

  • Obtained six figure settlement in favor of national law firm facing multi-million dollar malpractice claim arising out of patent litigation.

  • Obtained defense ruling on malpractice and related claims at pleading stage for national law firm sued by investors and court-appointed receiver of defunct corporate client.

  • Prevailed in fee arbitration and obtained six figure award in client's favor, reduced to judgment, for national intellectual property firm facing a multimillion-dollar fee claim arising out of alleged substantive conflicts of interest in patent prosecution.

  • Obtained non-suit on causation grounds in malpractice claims for national law firm sued by former client for malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty in underlying patent transaction.

  • Successfully used the anti-SLAPP statute to defeat, at the pleading stage, malicious prosecution claims arising out of underlying trade secret litigation.

  • Obtained favorable, early settlement for national law firm sued by expert witness when client refused to pay fees.

  • Secured defense win at pleading stage for statewide construction defect firm sued by various parties when its developer client defaulted.

  • Obtained favorable, early settlement of case against national law firm accused of malpractice when a lateral partner committed billing fraud.

  • Successfully moved to dismiss claims against international law firm in $550 million case alleging professional malpractice and fraud from the failure of a publicly traded corporation; affirmed on appeal; petition for review by United States Supreme Court denied.

  • Successfully defended national law firm against $60 million claim involving breach of fiduciary duty, malpractice, and spoliation of evidence; resolved by motion for summary judgment and dismissed by plaintiff on appeal.

  • Obtained summary judgment for law firm whose former client claimed it had erred in negotiating the settlement of underlying multi-party multimillion-dollar construction defect litigation.

  • Defended New York law firm in litigation against claims of fraud, tortious interference with contractual relationships, and bad faith in connection with underlying malpractice and insurance coverage disputes. Nonsuit granted in favor of clients one week into trial.

  • Defended national law firm against claims arising from employment advice allegedly resulting in underlying class action suits.

  • Obtained summary judgment, affirmed on appeal, for prominent Bay Area professional liability defense firm in malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty claim.

  • Successfully defended local construction defect firm in breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, and malpractice case; summary judgment obtained on causation grounds.

  • Obtained dismissal at pleadings stage, affirmed on appeal, for national private security firm against multimillion-dollar claims of tortious interference with contractual and business relations.

  • Defended international health food retailer and dietary supplement manufacturer in 5 coordinated wrongful death cases alleging that an herbal tea was a defective product. Obtained defense verdict following 6 week jury trial which was affirmed on appeal, and favorably settled remaining cases afterward.

  • Obtained summary judgment in multimillion-dollar case in favor of estate planning attorney. Prevailed when plaintiff appealed the judgment, on subsequent motion for reconsideration, and ultimately following appeal to California Supreme Court.

  • Obtained summary judgment in legal malpractice cases brought by husband and wife against attorney arising out of preparation of prenuptial agreement.

  • Obtained summary judgment finding no product defect in catastrophic injury case involving electronic control panel of 110 hydraulic press.

Admissions

  • California
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Areas of Practice

  • Professional Liability
  • Commercial Litigation

Education

  • University of Florida Levin College of Law, J.D., 1990
    - Associate Editor, University of Florida Journal of Law and Public Policy
    - Instructor, Appellate Advocacy, University of Florida, 1990
    - Instructor, Legal Research and Writing, University of Florida, 1989
  • University of Florida, B.A., with high honors, 1987

Experience

  • Duane Morris LLP
    - Partner, 2013-present
  • Krieg, Keller, Sloan, Reilley & Roman LLP
    - Partner, 2008-2013; Associate, 2000-2008
  • Long & Levit LLP
    - Associate, 1993-2000
  • Bennett & Rowland LLP
    - Associate, 1991-1993

Professional Activities

  • American Bar Association
    - Contributor, Lawyers' Professional Liability Newsletter
  • Bar Association of San Francisco
    - Executive Committee, Legal Malpractice Section
  • State Bar of California

Selected Publications

Selected Speaking Engagements

  • "Arbitration v. Litigation in the Lawyers' Professional Liability Context," Aon Law Firm Symposium, October 2018

  • "Ethical Collections and Fee Arbitration," The Legal Malpractice Section of The Bar Association of San Francisco, July 2013
  • "Case Law and Significant Legal Developments," American Bar Association Standing Committee on Lawyers' Professional Liability National Legal Malpractice Conference, Spring 2013
  • Ethics Potpourri, Bar Association of San Francisco's Legal Malpractice section, Spring 2012
  • "Coverage for Sexual Harassment and Wrongful Termination Claims," Mock Trial, presented to the CPCU Society Annual Meeting, November 1996
  • "Insurance Coverage for Sexual Harassment," presented to Excess/Surplus Lines Claims Association, April 1996
  • "Focus on Disaster: An Analysis of the Space Shuttle Challenger Crash as a Function of Flawed Group Decision Making Processes," presented at the Southern Communication Association Conference, April 1989