Piscitelli

Robert Friedenberg appeals a judgment and orders denying his motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) and partially granting a new trial following a jury verdict finding Friedenberg committed negligence in connection with his legal representation of Michael Piscitelli. Piscitelli retained Friedenberg’s law firm to pursue claims against his employer, Prudential Securities, Inc. (Prudential), based in part on allegations that Prudential misrepresented to its brokers the safety, operation and yields of certain limited partnership investments, causing the brokers to sell the investments to customers unsuited for their actual risk. Piscitelli sued Friedenberg for malpractice after Friedenberg failed to opt Piscitelli out of a separate class action lawsuit against Prudential brought by limited partnership investors, which resulted in the release of Piscitelli’s claims that would have been presented to a panel of New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) arbitrators. The jury awarded Piscitelli $223,824,560 in damages, including $221,389,400 representing the punitive damages the arbitrators in the underlying proceeding would have awarded based on the jury’s finding that…