Legal Malpractice

Contempt and Legal Malpractice in Matrimonial Law

By (Andrew Lavoott Bluestone)

Reading between the lines in Minkow v. Sanders, plaintiff was a difficult client.  To begin, he was her third attorney.  As a digression, defense attorneys in legal malpractice cases often tee off with the assertion that their client is the "third" or "fourth" attorney that plaintiff has had, and boot strap from that to the assertion that only a despicable person has more than one attorney.  While in the main this is unwarranted, in this particular case, it seems that the client was already about to be held in contempt for financial issues in the matrimonial action when defendant attorney took over.

Plaintiff seems to have had the money in this relationship, as there was eventually a pre-nup agreement found, and she had control of the bank accounts, and the kid's money.  Needless to say, it turned sour, and Ms. Minkow ended up in jail over Christmas.  In matrimonial litigation, this is almost unheard of.

She sued and had her case dismissed by Justice Solomon in Supreme Court, New York County for the basic reasons:  failure to state a cause of action   Interestingly, Justice Solomon "summarily dismissed" several of the causes of action, and then dismissed the balance of them

The decision should be read for two reasons.  The first is a discussion of termination of the attorney-client relationship when "trust and confidence" has fled.  The second is Justice Solomon's treatment of a cause of action for the attorney's "inability to gain plaintiff's compliance with a court order."  As Justice Solomon states:"A client's wilful disregard of a court order cannot be attributed to her attorney who consistently advised compliance" no matter that it got her locked up over Christmas.

Full post as published by New York Attorney Malpractice Blog on December 10, 2009 (boomark / email).