A Whitley County mother has filed a lawsuit against a Corbin attorney claiming he failed to do his job when they hired him in 2003 to recover money from an insurance company to cover injuries suffered by her daughter in a car crash.
April Davenport filed the lawsuit in Whitley Circuit Court last Thursday on behalf of her minor daughter, Bethany Davenport.
According to the complaint, Davenport hired Corbin attorney Tim Crawford to claim damages from a crash that happened on Feb. 14, 2003. In response, Crawford filed a lawsuit against Kentucky National Insurance Company – the company through which coverage had been purchased on the vehicle she and her daughter were sitting in.
An order dismissing the case was entered for "failure to prosecute," according to the lawsuit, but Davenport was never notified. Instead, she claims Crawford continued to tell her there would be a trial in U.S. District Court in London on July 28, 2010. No action was ever actually filed in U.S. District Court.
Additionally, Davenport claims she was never informed the case in Whitley Circuit Court was dismissed.
"Defendant Crawford failed to exercise the degree of care and skill expected of a reasonably competent attorney while representing the Plaintiffs resulting in significant financial loss," the lawsuit reads.
Davenport is asking for punitive damages and monetary compensation, with interest, and a trial by jury.
The complaint was filed by Brian T. Canupp, an attorney from Paris, and Tad Thomas, of Louisville.
The lawsuit makes public a second claim by clients of Crawford that he failed to adequately represent them. In March, the Kentucky Supreme Court suspended Crawford from practicing law for 30 days, upholding a ruling by the Kentucky Inquiry Commission that he mishandled a disability benefits claim in 2008. Prior to the ruling, he had never been disciplined for any professional misconduct.
Crawford has an office at he corner of Main Street and Roy Kidd Avenue in Corbin. He is well regarded statewide as an attorney particular familiar with education law. He serves as Board Attorney for the Whitley County Board of Education, Knox County Board of Education; as well as for school districts in McCreary, Jackson, Estill and Perry Counties. He is also board attorney for city school districts in Barbourville and Middlesboro.
Calls and emails seeking comment from Crawford Tuesday went unanswered.
