Two local aviation companies who lost a lawsuit claiming they sold a lemon airplane are taking their former attorney to court. Tim McCandless Inc. and Swieter Aircraft Services allege that attorney Gene Yagla smelled of alcohol during their trial in 2006. Also named in the lawsuit is Yagla’s firm, Riley, Shea & Bevel. Attorney and legal malpractice expert William Graham, who is now representing McCandless and Swieter, said Tuesday that Yagla failed to put vital expert witnesses on the stand during the trial and failed to cross examine the plaintiff’s witnesses adequately. Graham says Yagla missed a deadline to notify the court and the opposition of his expert witness, and the trial went on without that testimony.
Yagla’s attorney, Patrick Roby, said the two aviation companies got sued because they were involved in the sale of a bum airplane to a customer and then blamed their lawyer when they lost. The suit involves the sale of a Cessna that had been built in the United States and then sold in Germany.
Excerpted from WFCCourier.com