Jury Awards $8.1 Million in Legal Malpractice Case

A Superior Court jury has awarded an Acton couple $8.1 million in a legal malpractice case, agreeing with the plaintiffs that young lawyers they hired after their 5-year-old son was killed in a horseback riding accident botched a wrongful-death suit.

The three defendants, two of whom were recent law school graduates when retained eight years ago, plan to appeal the verdict, considered unusual because most legal malpractice cases are settled out of court.

“What this jury has taught me is that people don’t like attorneys,” one of the defendants, David Ganezer, said. He and his brother, Elliot, owe $4 million each, while an associate, Timothy E. Meyer, owes $100,000.

The plaintiffs, Robert and Taryl Garland, were parents of Ryan Garland, who was killed when he and his father were thrown from a horse rented from Wallace Ranch near Lake View Terrace.

The Garlands contended in their earlier lawsuit that ranch personnel had given the pair a saddle that was too big and was improperly cinched. They lost that case in 1994. The couple then sued their attorneys, saying the case had been mishandled.