“Analytical gap” defeats causation in legal malpractice case – UPDATED

Plaintiff alleged that his counsel’s negligence as to the handling of evidence about certain property appraisals led to an unfavorable settlement. The Fifth Court affirmed summary judgment for the defense, noting that the appraisals only became relevant if a particular ruling was made on a threshold legal issue, and the plaintiff’s expert affidavit “contained no analysis of the law or the facts relating to” whether “[P]laintiff would have prevailed on the payment issue at trial.” “Therefore a ‘fatal analytical gap’ in [the expert’s affidavit divide his recitation of the facts from his opinion of the ‘true value’ of the case, and we ‘are simply left to take his word’ that the settlement was excessive.”  Barnett v. Schiro, No. 05-16-00999-CV (Jan. 9, 2018) (mem. op.)