Lawyer Ordered to Pay $21 Million

A jury has ordered a Santa Ana lawyer to pay $21 million to a woman who claimed his faulty advice in business dealings left her destitute.

Jurors returned the verdict Friday against Lee Durst, whose client accused him of negligently handling a lawsuit against a mortgage company and recklessly handling her and her husband’s investment in a Kansas nightclub.

Superior Court Judge James Selna is scheduled to review the jury’s verdict this morning. He has the authority to reduce the amount of the settlement.

Durst, a California lawyer for 25 years, was accused in the lawsuit of botching his client’s legal claim against a mortgage company, which took her San Juan Capistrano home in foreclosure.

In a separate issue, Durst was faulted for recommending that plaintiff Robin Wilt and her husband hire a man to manage their Kansas nightclub without disclosing that the man had a criminal record. The club quickly got into financial trouble, with about $500,000 in revenue unaccounted for, said Wilt’s lawyer, Steven Young.

As a result, Wilt and her husband sold their real estate holdings and ended up living in a motel, Young said. Wilt’s husband, Steven, died before the case went to trial.

The case lasted several weeks, and jurors took one day to reach the decision.

The award included compensation not only for monetary losses but for other types of damages. The jury awarded Wilt $3 million for infliction of emotional distress. Another $12,000 was set aside for Wilt’s future psychological therapy costs.

Durst’s attorney, Ed Blumenthal, declined comment.

Several attorneys said they believed it to be the largest legal malpractice award in Orange County.

Other areas have had much larger legal malpractice awards. In Los Angeles County, a jury handed down a $45.6-million malpractice verdict a few years ago.