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Legal Malpractice

New York Attorney Malpractice Blog

Legal Malpractice Attorney & Lawyer
By Andrew Bluestone

Post Frequency: 9.8/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 06:03:18

In Hard Financial Times, Legal Malpractice Shadows Bankruptcy

Posted on January 26, 2010
Our meme today, again, is that legal malpractice is to be found in all endeavors involving attorneys. It is no stranger to Bankruptcy proceedings, and in today's case, a verdict is found against a Long Island Bankruptcy attorney. Mizuno v Fischoff & Assoc...

Amendment Just Not Allowed in this Legal Malpractice Case

Posted on January 25, 2010
Plaintiff sues law firm for legal malpractice. Case rests on representation in a commercial real estate lease. There was a four year period in which the landlord was building the premises, and the question of in what year a tax escalation clause starts led to this legal malpractice case...

Some Side Issues in Judiciary Law 487 and Legal Malpractice

Posted on January 22, 2010
Judiciary Law 487 is suddenly all the rage. Ironic, as it may be the oldest statute in Anglo-American jurisprudence, coming only years after the Magna Carta. We see references to Marbury v. Madison once in a while, but this statute is perhaps 500 years older...

Another Example of the Res Judicata Trap in Legal Malpractice

Posted on January 21, 2010
Attorney fees and legal malpractice should have nothing to do with each other. However, the general rule is that no legal fees may be awarded in the face of legal malpractice and its corollary is that if legal fees are awarded by a court or tribunal, then there could have been no legal malpractice, whether the issue is briefed or not...

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Expired Statute of Limitations or Continued Representation in Legal Malpractice ?

Posted on January 20, 2010
It should be fairly easy to determine when the statute of limitations ends, no? In legal malpractice, one must commence an action within three years of when the cause of action accrues, unless there continues to be "continuous representation...

Abandonment in a Legal Malpractice Case

Posted on January 19, 2010
Plaintiff starts a case on their own, and then when they get near trial, hire the defendant attorneys to represent them in an action for personal injury to their child either at school, or due to the alleged negligence of the School district. The attorneys take over, and are said to agree that they can provide a doctor/expert and obtain all the necessary medical records to try the case...

Going Fishing for Legal Malpractice

Posted on January 18, 2010
How does one prove legal malpractice, and what documents are necessary to support a successful legal malpractice case? A colliery to that question is how do you get those documents, and when is a request too broad, and when does a demand go to far? An illustration of a request which went too far is found in Aaron v Pattison, Sampson, Ginsberg & Griffin, P...

At the Intersection of Bankruptcy and Legal Malpractice

Posted on January 15, 2010
in Lyons v Cronin & Byczek, LLP 01/06/2010 2010 NYSlipOp 30006(U Plaintiff started an employment discrimination case against the LIRR and while it was pending, filed a petition in Bankruptcy. How this fact was not known to his attorneys, or the LIRR is not explained, but he settled the case and accepted the proceeds...

What is Legal Malpractice Anyway?

Posted on January 14, 2010
It's popularly thought that legal malpractice is all about the mistakes made by an attorney. While that is the first elements of legal malpractice, there are far harder hurdles to jump in a successful case. Mistakes, or problems in the way a case was handled are not that difficult to fine, attorneys being human, and the natural law of imperfection still remains in effect...

Still a 6 year Statute of Limitations in a Near-Legal Malpractice Case?

Posted on January 13, 2010
For those with any knowledge of the history of the statute of limitations in legal malpractice, there was once a time in which a three year s/l for tort and a six year s/l for contract existed. Under the Court of Appeals in Santulli it was permissible...

How Close is the Relationship in Legal Malpractice?

Posted on January 12, 2010
In Denenberg v Rosen ;2010 NY Slip Op 00081 ;Decided on January 7, 2010 ;Appellate Division, ;First Department ; Moskowitz, J. the question of when the relationship begins between client and attorney is discussed. Plaintiff, who was a knowledgeable investor, as a commodities trader, formed a retirement account that was ultimately disallowed by the IRS...

One of the Larger Legal Malpractice Cases in NY is Dismissed

Posted on January 11, 2010
We have written that legal malpractice cases arise from a large base of underlying matters. Here is a huge NY case that starts in Austria, travels east to Russia, and then is dismissed in New York. In this story from the NYLJ by Nate Raymond we see how an Austrian Bank which lost it all in Russia came to New York to sue and lose a legal malpractice case against Chadbourne & Parke...

Criminal Legal Malpractice in the Federal Arena

Posted on January 07, 2010
Criminal defendants have a well known and exacting path. Arrest, Indictment, Trial, Appeal, CPL 440 Motion (or its federal equivalent) habeas proceedings, and finally, they often turn to a legal malpractice action. In New York there is a strict prohibition against suing ones criminal defense attorney...

Settlements, Bankruptcy Court and Legal Malpractice

Posted on January 06, 2010
Continuing the trend towards a combination of bankruptcy and legal malpractice, we note that bankruptcy follows, and rarely precedes legal malpractice situations, hence, we expect a swell of the intersection following the financial down-trends of the past year...

The Long Road to Plaintiff's Partial Summary Judgment

Posted on January 05, 2010
Plaintiff suffers a construction accident, and his attorneys wait too long to bring the action. He had a Labor Law 200.240, 241 and other claims, typical in a gravity-fall construction case. His attorney admit that they waited too long to commence the action, but was successful in dismissal of the Labor la 200 and 240 causes of action...

Is Negligent Referal Just a Variant of Legal Malpractice?

Posted on January 04, 2010
In today's NYLJ, Abraham B. Krieger writes a compelling article about "negligent referral ", and gives some history and out of state cases, along with a discussion of NY cases in the area. To backtrack, Mr. Krieger writes: "Recently, New York's Appellate Divisions in the First, Second and Third departments, and a number of other state courts, implicitly recognized negligent recommendation/referral as a potential cause of action...

The Fourth Department, Legal Malpractice and Bankruptcy

Posted on December 31, 2009
In Dischiavi v Calli ;2009 NY Slip Op 09773 ;Decided on December 30, 2009 ;Appellate Division, Fourth Department we see a discussion of the effects of a bankruptcy filing on a legal malpractice claim. While the governing principal applies to any cause of action which a plaintiff had when bankruptcy was filed...

Is This a Case of the Cobbler's Son in Legal Malpractice?

Posted on December 30, 2009
"The Cobbler's Son had no shoes..." is an ancient way of saying that people attend to the needs of others, including clients, while ignoring the requirements closer to home. While the decision does not make this analogy, nor does it explicitly hinge the reasoning on the lack of an affidavit of plaintiff, we wonder whether there is some connection in a legal malpractice case which had the lack of an affidavit of plaintiff as a central motif in the underlying action...

"Tough Old Bird" or Criminal? Either Way, its Legal Malpractice

Posted on December 29, 2009
Today's NYLJ article by Daniel Wise chronicles the chilling story of an attorney who put his own freedom at risk in order to stymie a former client, and a successor attorney. Why, and the clumsy method undertaken is the mystery. in In re: RUBY G...

Criminal Defense and Legal Malpractice

Posted on December 28, 2009
The rule is pretty clear; one may not sue a criminal defense attorney unless there is a showing of innocence. Innocence means acquittal or reversal on appeal. Here, in Peo v. Radcliff is a stunning example of how and why the rule exists...

How Does an Attorney End the Relationship and Avoid Legal Malpractice?

Posted on December 24, 2009
A recurring problem in medical malpractice cases is one in which the attorneys take on a case, start the case, and then at the critical juncture when an expert has to be named, abandon the case. From a business point of view, this behavior is incomprehensible...

Successor Counsel or Not in a Legal Malpractice Case

Posted on December 23, 2009
An often found situation in legal malpractice cases is the successor counsel problem. In a nutshell, here it is. Plaintiff hires attorney 1 who makes a mistake. Plaintiff finds out about the mistake, which has not led to outright dismissal, but rather, to a problem...

Defective Retainer Agreements, Fees and Legal Malpractice

Posted on December 22, 2009
Rule 1215, setting forth the necessity for a retainer agreement between attorney and client, has some very strong language. Under the rule, in the absence of a retainer agrement, no legal fee can be enforced. This is the rule, no? Actually, no...

When is a Settlement not a Settlement?

Posted on December 21, 2009
It's just a few words spoken to the record, and in this case, none of the participants dispute what was the agreement between the parties, yet, here, a settlement was not a settlement, and all because the judge made a decision and held firmly to it. In Diarassouba v Urban ;2009 NY Slip Op 09420 ; Decided on December 15, 2009 ;Appellate Division, Second Department here is what happened: "While the court was in recess and the jury was deliberating, Conrad Jordan, counsel for the plaintiff, communicated to the defendants' counsel, Barry M...

Lose the Trial, Lose the Legal Malpractice Case - A Contradiction?

Posted on December 18, 2009
One might think that after a loss of the underlying case, a legal malpractice action will undoubtedly be successful. That thought is, of course, naive. As an example. suppose you are a landlord and owner of a commercial setting who sells to buyer, who is to pay for the sale over time...

Another Unusual Legal Malpractice Case and Comparative Negligence

Posted on December 17, 2009
Nate Raymond of the NYLJ reports a second unusual legal malpractice case, this time with an attorney as the plaintiff. He sues over a case concerning his former law office and whether he was due money in the wake of its breakup. "Partnership law expert Leslie Corwin is being sued by an attorney he represented who claims Mr...

Large Legal Malpractice Case: Mistake or a Sign of the Financial Times?

Posted on December 16, 2009
Nate Raymond of the NYLJ reports on a $55 Million legal malpractice case Ableco Finance LLC v. Hilson, Ippolito and Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP arising from loans made to a large retailer, and events after the loan went sour, bankruptcy filings, and apparently a big pay back by the lender in Bankruptcy Court...

Fee Disputes and Rule 137: When is it a Dispute?

Posted on December 15, 2009
One has to shake the head and ask why all the effort goes into a law suit that will [or is so likely to] fail? The question is multiplied when plaintiff is an attorney seeking fees. Rule 137 seems pretty comprehensive and exacting. Attorney who seeks a fee needs to serve th client with an opportunity to arbitate...

Judiciary Law 487 and the Other Guy's Attorney

Posted on December 14, 2009
Yesterday we discussed the plaintiff v. her own attorney part of Dupree v Voorhees ; 2009 NY Slip Op 09183 ; Decided on December 8, 2009 ; Appellate Division, Second Department . Today we look at Dupree v. her husband's attorneys. Traditionally this type of case has been out of bounds...

A Triple-Header in Legal Malpractice and Judiciary Law 487

Posted on December 11, 2009
Dupree v. Voorhees, 2009 NY Slip Op 09183 ;Decided on December 8, 2009 ;Appellate Division, Second Department is an example of the breathtaking reversals that might happen on appeal, and how the law can "change" in the period between dismissal and the appeal...

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