Kansas City Star, The (MO)
February 15, 2006
Section: News
Page: B1
$3 million awarded in adoption dispute Kirksville resident decided to renege on 1995 agreement
JOE LAMBE
A jury on Tuesday awarded a Kirksville, Mo., woman $3 million after finding that a Kansas City lawyer misrepresented her in an adoption 11 years ago.
Jurors said Sanford Krigel and his law firm committed a breach of fiduciary duty to Chandrika Collins, 32. She believed Krigel represented her in 1995 when she agreed to let a Pennsylvania couple adopt her baby.
Collins then decided not to put the baby up for adoption, but Krigel never moved to stop the process and instead worked with the adoptive parents, jurors said after the verdict in Jackson County Circuit Court.
Collins did not see the boy, now 10, for more than four years while she fought in court to get the right to joint custody.
It is common for lawyers to represent the birth mothers and adoptive parents, said Adam Pertman, director of the Evan Donaldson Adoption Institute in New York, an adoption advocacy group.
The case demonstrates what can happen in such an arrangement, Pertman said.
"It raises the question of where is (the lawyer's) heart," he said. "Typically it's the adoptive parents who pay the bill."
About half the women who are considering placing children for adoption change their minds during the process, he said, and it is important that lawyers make the rules clear.
Collins' attorney, Robert Langdon, said after the verdict that he hoped lawyers and adoption agencies would learn from the case and get separate representation.
"This young lady had her baby stolen from her by the legal system, and this jury just wasn't going to let that happen," Langdon said.
James Ensz, attorney for Krigel, said his client would appeal.
Several other lawyers involved in the case settled before trial for undisclosed amounts. Those settlements will be subtracted from the $3 million verdict.
At trial, Krigel contended that he never actually worked for Collins. He spoke to her for a few minutes on the telephone and forwarded the case to another lawyer, he said.
Collins contended that Krigel told her she could back out anytime before the adoption was final, but in fact she could not after her signed legal consent was approved. That happened just days before the adoptive couple left with the baby.
In closing arguments, Ensz told jurors Krigel would never have given mistaken advice on the deadline.
"That would be like a mathematician saying 2 plus 2 is 5," he said.
Langdon told jurors his client "didn't know Krigel was working behind her back, double-crossing her - you've hired a lawyer to help you and he helps the other side."
Now his client has gone through 11 years of pain, he said, and still is struggling to build a relationship with her son.
"This adoption," he said, "it could have been stopped."
To reach Joe Lambe, call (816) 234-4314 or send e-mail to jlambe@kcstar.com.
© Copyright 2006 The Kansas City Star Co.
