North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation, Inc. v. Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice, PLLC, 887 F. Supp. 2d 78

NACEPF, a non-profit, relied on counsel Barr and Womble for ITFS/EBS licensing since 1992.
FCC licensing rules evolved from a point system to an auction, affecting NACEPF’s applications in multiple markets.
Plaintiff alleges multiple malpractice-related failures in Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Toledo, Alamosa, Grand Junction, Eureka, and Swainsboro markets.
Defendants terminated Womble in 2006; files were transferred to NACEPF and later preserved in Rhode Island.
Plaintiff filed suit in 2009 alleging four causes of action: legal malpractice, breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith, and breach of fiduciary duty.
Court granted partial summary judgment on Las Vegas claims in 2011 and moved toward trial on remaining markets.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Are counts other than legal malpractice duplicative?	Counts II–IV duplicate malpractice and should be maintained with amendment.	Counts II–IV are duplicative of the malpractice claim and must be dismissed.	Counts II–IV duplicative; granted partial judgment striking duplicative counts.
Should plaintiff be allowed to amend the complaint?	Amendment would address duplications and add new factual theories without prejudice.	Amendment would delay trial, expand discovery, and show dilatory motive.	Leave to amend denied; amendments would unduly delay trial and prejudice defendants.

Biomet Inc. v. Finnegan Henderson LLP, 967 A.2d 662 (D.C. 2009) (breach of fiduciary duty duplicative of malpractice claims)
Harvey v. Mohammed, 841 F. Supp. 2d 164 (D.D.C. 2012) (duplicative claims should be dismissed for judicial economy)
Jacobson v. Oliver, 201 F. Supp. 2d 93 (D.D.C. 2002) (no independent cause of action for implied covenant of good faith in attorney representation)
Anderson v. USAir, Inc., 818 F.2d 49 (D.C. Cir. 1987) (leave to amend evaluated for delay and prejudice to opposing party)