Old malpractice suit against Judge Miley and her prior firm to be unsealed

In 2005, as Family Court Judge Stefany Miley was being sworn in, a widow sued the judge and her law partners for malpractice. The lawsuit was sealed by District Judge Doug Herndon at the time.

The Review-Journal reports:

[Judge Herndon] said last week that he sealed the matter by mistake and plans to unseal the lawsuit unless attorneys can convince him to do otherwise. Judge Doug Herndon said he didn't realize he had sealed the case in error until the Review-Journal inquired about it, and that he plans to call the attorneys on the Miley case back into court to justify the sealing of the case.

The sealed case alleges Miley and her old firm failed to file records with the court before a client's death:

The lawsuit, which was quickly sealed from public view, alleged that Carr-Blum's
husband, at the time of his impending death, signed legal documents to keep the couple's home out of probate, but that the law firm didn't file the records at the courthouse before he died, as required for Carr-Blum to assume sole ownership of the house.

The man died five days after he signed the documents in the presence of the law firm's paralegal, according to court records.

Kate Kruse, a law professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who teaches
professional ethics, said that for a lawyer to miss a deadline at court, resulting in a client being hurt, is a "pretty serious oversight." In a situation like the Miley case, it's possible the law firm had no way of knowing when its client would die and, therefore, had no idea that its deadline was imminent, Kruse said.

Even with just five days between execution and the client's death, it seems like the firm screwed up here. That said, consider the story in context: Miley's competition for the District Court judicial seat is Judge Halverson. Not a tough voting choice there.