Legal Malpractice

Plaintiff's Partial Success does not Rule out Legal Malpractice Case

By (Andrew Lavoott Bluestone)

Plaintiff claimed pay and benefits from the Board of Education.  Apparently there is a two part process for such claims.  The first thing to do is to request a hearing.  Later, one may bring an Article 78 proceeding.

In Leticia Abreu v Jose A. Quesada,4489, 6884/05; SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT; 2008 NY Slip Op 8420; 866 N.Y.S.2d 571; 2008 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 8251  Defendant attorneys failed to serve notice for a hearing.  "The record contains no dispute that defendant failed to file a proper request for a hearing pursuant to Education Law 3020-a(2)(c) and that this failure resulted in the loss to plaintiff of pay and benefits to which she otherwise would have been entitled, pending a hearing, before termination"

Plaintiff then started an Article 78 proceeding, with some success.  This success did not rule out a legal malpractice case against the attorneys who did not notice the hearing.  "The partial grant of plaintiff's article 78 petition against the Board of Education does not collaterally estop plaintiff from asserting defendant's legal malpractice (see Weiss v Manfredi, 83 NY2d 974, 976-977, 639 N.E.2d 1122, 616 N.Y.S.2d 325 [1994]; Savattere v Subin Assocs., 261 AD2d 236, 236, 690 N.Y.S.2d 229 [1999])."

Full post as published by New York Attorney Malpractice Blog on December 02, 2008 (boomark / email).