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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

Criminal Defense Representation and Legal Malpractice

Posted on November 24, 2010
Legal malpractice litigation is unique. While the simple fact is that this branch of the law is written by attorneys, is utilized to litigate against attorneys, is judged upon by attorneys, the more complex story is that there are a number of unique rules...

Estates and Trusts in the Legal Malpractice World

Posted on November 23, 2010
The more things change, the more they stay the same, say the French. In the Estates and Trust - legal malpractice world, this saying is illustrated by Leff v Fulbright & Jaworski, L.L.P. ;2010 NY Slip Op 08443 ;Decided on November 18, 2010 ;Appellate Division, First Department...

Decedents, Estates and Legal Malpractice

Posted on November 22, 2010
The rule of privity in legal malpractice is very strong. It exists as a "bright line" that admits of few exceptions. One recent anomaly is that of decedents, estates and standing. In an article from today's NYLJ. Raymond Radigan and Jennifer F...

More on Legal Malpractice and 306-b

Posted on November 19, 2010
Bumpus v New York City Tr. Auth. ;2009 NY Slip Op 05737 [66 AD3d 26] ;July 7, 2009 ;Dillon, J., J. discusses what to do when the defendant can't be identified, or served within a 120 day period. On Wednesday we discussed the first two options: making a motion after the 120 days have expired pursuant to CPLR 306-b...

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How Does the Court Gauge Damage Claims in Legal Malpractice Cases?

Posted on November 18, 2010
One frequently sees an argument made in motions to dismiss pursuant to CPLR 3211 (multiple sub-divisions) in which evidentiary material is submitted by defendant, and it is argued that damages cannot be ascertained or proven. In Simpson v Alter ;2010 NY Slip Op 08089 ;Decided on November 9, 2010 ;Appellate Division, Second Department the Court answers this question: "The Supreme Court also properly denied that branch of the appellants' motion which was to dismiss the complaint insofar as asserted against them pursuant to CPLR 3211(a)(7)...

CPLR 306-b and Legal Malpractice

Posted on November 17, 2010
Over the years, the rules of service of process have changed. Once, long ago, a case was commenced when defendants were served with a summons and complaint and an index number was purchased only when necessary. Later, in 1992 a commencement by index number rule started, and questions of service then arose...

Judges Engaging in Legal Malpractice Litigation

Posted on November 16, 2010
What happens when Judges hire attorneys to litigate election law matters? The same thing that happens when ordinary people litigate. Some litigations end in legal malpractice cases. That is true of Simpson v Alter ; 2010 NY Slip Op 08089 ; Decided on November 9, 2010 ;Appellate Division, Second Department...

A Jury Question in Legal Malpractice

Posted on November 15, 2010
This case cuts to the center of a legal malpractice case, nicely illustrating the difference between legal malpractice and all other disciplines. Greene v Sager ; 2010 NY Slip Op 08068 ; Decided on November 9, 2010 ;Appellate Division, Second Department is a twin story...

How Does Legal Malpractice Happen?

Posted on November 12, 2010
Attorneys care about their clients. Attorneys work hard and have reasons to perform good work. Attorneys make mistakes, and have high case loads. Attorneys have their own interests at heart. These are contradictory thoughts that cannot be reconciled...

Per se Legal Malpractice Negligence and Workers' Compensation Settlements

Posted on November 11, 2010
Practitioners are supposed to know not only how to gain a client, but how to settle a case without causing collateral damage. One such trap, though well known, open and obvious, is the settlement of tort actions when plaintiff has been awarded Workers' Compensation benefits...

A Trend Gathers Steam in Legal Malpractice

Posted on November 10, 2010
Change in the law is sometimes revolutionary, and more often incremental. A stunning example of incremental change is a trend in legal malpractice arising from matrimonial actions. Often, if not universal, matrimonial actions are settled in open court stipulations, set on the record...

How Does an Attorney Lose a Charging Lien?

Posted on November 08, 2010
Attorneys automatically obtain a charging lien by commencing an action. There are several ways to lose that lien. One is to be terminated "for cause" and another is to withdraw voluntarily. This is different from being "consented out" or by withdrawing with mutual consent...

Collateral Estoppel, The Underlying Case and Legal Malpractice

Posted on November 05, 2010
The decision is somewhat short on details, but points to the most unique part of legal malpractice litigation. When lawyers are sued for their professional acts, plaintiff must prove that "but for" the attorney's acts there would have been a better or more favorable outcome...

Battling Narratives in Legal Malpractice Case

Posted on November 04, 2010
This story of a likely ponzi scheme in the investments field took place between family members. Plaintiff gave his in-law $ 295,000 to invest. When he became troubled by the lack of documentation, he demanded his money back. A transfer of $ 250,000 (he took a real loss) came to him...

Legal Malpractice Award: The Final Nail ?

Posted on November 03, 2010
We read this story about the largest firm in Florida going through some changes. As bad as having the First Named Partner being suspended from the practice of law, and the name of the firm changing to reflect that reality, this story from Law.Com is even worse: "MIAMI - Adorno & Yoss, one of Florida's largest law firms, became Yoss LLP on Monday as firm co-founder and chairman Henry 'Hank' Adorno stepped down following the suspension of his law license...

Breach of Contract, Legal Malpractice and Prisoners

Posted on November 02, 2010
Prisoners are frequent consumers of legal services, yet lack many of the abilities to enforce, cajole, or otherwise make sure post-trial, post-plea or appellate work is performed, and performed on time. Many are the complaints that attorneys were paid, and the work was not done for years, if done at all...

A 13 Year Saga in Legal Malpractice

Posted on November 01, 2010
Experience in listening to potential legal malpractice litigants tell their story reveals the darker side of many of society's institutions: family, marriage, friendship. This case,Benedict v Whitman Breed Abbott & Morgan ;2010 NY Slip Op 07704 ;Decided on October 26, 2010 ;Appellate Division, Second Department arises from a "family matriarch" who refused to vote shares in a family trust, thus "causing her to breach a special fiduciary duty to them in voting their shares, pursuant to a proxy, to approve certain self-dealing transactions of the advisors...

Attorney-Client Privilege in Legal Malpractice

Posted on October 29, 2010
Attorneys are hired and fired, and new attorneys take over. Almost by definition, the new attorneys take on cases that have already been handled, either well or badly by predecessors. How does this affect later communications with the client, especially in a legal malpractice setting? in Soussis v Lazer, Aptheker, Rosella & Yedid, P...

Continuing Representation, The Patent World and Legal Malpractice

Posted on October 28, 2010
Statute of limitation issues are especial difficult in transactional legal malpractice calculations. In litigation legal malpractice, the last date of representation is generally not too hard to agree upon. Here, in Elizabeth Arden, Inc. v Abelman, Frayne & Schwab , 2010 NY Slip Op 51836(U) Decided on October 22, 2010; Supreme Court, New York County; Fried, J...

CPLR 321(c), The Court of Appeals and Legal Malpractice

Posted on October 27, 2010
We've noted in the past that legal malpractice cases sometimes have a history of legal malpractice within them. As an example, Moray v Koven & Krause, Esqs. 2010 NY Slip Op 07573 ;Decided on October 26, 2010 ;Court of Appeals ;Read, J. serves well...

Fee Disputes and Legal Malpractice

Posted on October 26, 2010
"The best defense is a strong offense"..."Tyranny shall not go unopposed!" which of these two opposing story lines will succeed in a legal fee / legal malpractice case. Here is one example where the fee side wins out. Duane Morris LLP v Astor Holdings Inc...

Is This a Legal Malpractice Industry?

Posted on October 25, 2010
In a US District Court case, entitled Bloom v. Morley, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 104704 (EDNY, 2010) one attorney is suing a second attorney over fees and defamatnio. What was the underlying story? "Plaintiff further contends that a "business relationship [existed] between Defendant and Lugli for purposes of multi-forum litigation * * *," whereby defendant and Lugli, "under the guise of Featured Realty, Inc...

Legal Malpractice and "In pari delicto"

Posted on October 22, 2010
The Court of Appeals yesterday decided a case which limits potential liability, or more correctly put, continues a limit of potential liability of a corporation's outside professional advisors, including attorneys. In Kirschner v Kpmg Llp ; 2010 NY Slip Op 07415 ; Decided on October 21, 2010 Court of Appeals ; Read, J...

Relation Back Doctrine and Legal Malpractice

Posted on October 21, 2010
Attorneys frequently use LLPs or PCs as their corporate identity. Does this really make a difference in small or single attorney settings? The short answer is: "yes!" in Teodorescu v Resnick & Binder, P.C. ;2010 NY Slip Op 20400 ;Decided on September 28, 2010 ;Supreme Court, Kings County ;Kurtz, J...

Attorney Fees in Medical Malpractice, Loans to a Client and Disbarment

Posted on October 20, 2010
The litigation funding industry either preys on, or aids clients who have significant damage cases that they cannot bring to trial, or when the clients need money during long litigation. This story, while nominally that of a disbarred attorney, focuses a light on the lending practices of attorneys and clients...

A Motion for Summary Judgment in Legal Malpractice that Just Can't be Decided

Posted on October 19, 2010
PROTOSTORM, LLC , -against- ANTONELLI, TERRY, STOUT & KRAUS, LLP, ., Defendants. 08-CV-931 (NGG) (JO) UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 109466 [October 12, 2010, Decided] is the Court's lament over a motion for summary judgment gone bad...

Legal Malpractice and Reading the Document

Posted on October 18, 2010
in Gelobter v Fox 10/01/2010 , Supreme Court, Nassau County, Judge Marber, we see a legal malpractice action sounding in "Seller Rescue Fraud." Plaintiff says that she did not know the price at which she sold her house, and that the actually selling price was several hundred thousand dollars less than she believed...

Summary Judgment and Its Responses

Posted on October 14, 2010
In Felt v. Van Alstyne we see an interesting real estate-legal malpractice case, one which is, unfortunately, no so uncommon. Plaintiff owns 51 acres of property in Greene County and wants to sell a portion, 6.1 acres. The balance of 45 acres or so, which is unimproved, is to be sub-divided and kept...

Yet Another Lake Front Property and Legal Malpractice

Posted on October 13, 2010
Keeping in mind the biblical aphorism that certain things come in threes, we report on a second lake front legal malpractice case. This one is ZAVALIDROGA, -v.- COTE, JOHN DOE, DORIS M. KELLEY, JAMES E. KELLEY, DAVID LAPLANTE, individually and officially as an Oneida County Sheriff's deputy, GREGORY J...

The lake Front Property that Keeps on Generating Legal Malpractice Litigation

Posted on October 12, 2010
Upstate New York, Cayuga Lake; each of the plaintiffs wanted a lake front property on a Finger Lake. First, the Andersons bought the property only to learn that then had less lake frontage, had an easement running through the property and that their out-buildings were encroaching on the neighbor's property...

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