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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

CPLR 321 and a Very Long Statute of Limitations in Legal Malpractice

Posted on November 10, 2008
Law.Com reports the Gotay v. Brietbart2008 NY Slip Op 08432 Decided on November 6, 2008 Appellate Division, First Department Lippman, P.J., case. This case addresses what may be the last reference to a change in New York law which roiled the waters for several years...

Curtain Rings Down on Legal Malpractice Case

Posted on November 07, 2008
Plaintiffs were aspiring Broadway Musical producers, and contracted for the rights to a Barry Manilow production, Harmony. Alas, it was not to be. Producing a play/musical for Broadway takes a lot of money, and it appears from the court decision that this production was "undercapitilized," Things went badly, and ended in the producers losing their rights to the script...

Many Allegations all under the Roof of Legal Malpractice

Posted on November 06, 2008
Some time ago, the Court of Appeals decided Santulli v Englert, Reilly & McHugh, P.C., 78 N.Y.2d 700, [1992]. The upshot of that decision was that plaintiff could plead both negligence and breach of contract, and each had different statutes of limitation, 3 and 6 years...

Criminal Indictments and Legal Malpractice

Posted on November 05, 2008
We've been revisiting this theme over the past year. When one thinks legal malpractice, the most common image is that of the personal injury client whose statute of limitations was blown. However, today we see a significant rise of legal malpractice in the financial field...

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Politics, Attorneys and Legal Malpractice

Posted on November 04, 2008
Do politics play a part in justice? Often clients believe that a judge is biased either for them or against them. At times the client ascribes that bias to politics. Attorneys make large contributions to judicial campaigns. A recent article in the NYLJ described one upstate powerhouse law firm which routinely made contributions of $ 10,000 or more to judicial campaigns...

Suing Someone Elses' Attorney in Legal Malpractice

Posted on November 03, 2008
Privity is the term which describes the relationship between plaintiff and a specific attorney. People are not permitted to sue attorneys, in legal malpractice, unless there has been a professional relationship between them. While it may seem obvious in a general sense, the devil is, as always, in the details...

Privity and Dismissal in Legal Malpractice

Posted on October 31, 2008
Privity of representation by an attorney of the client is a bedrock concept of legal malpractice. One interesting situation is in union paid attorney representation. An alluring benefit of membership in a union is pre-paid or free legal representation in certain situations, This benefit may mean that there is no real attorney-client relationship sufficient for a legal malpractice action later, if things go wrong...

Charging and Retaining Liens in New York Legal Malpractice

Posted on October 30, 2008
A common law retaining lien, known also as a "general possessory lien" entitles the outgoing attorney to "retain all papers, securities, or money belonging to the client" that came into the attorney's possession in the course of representation, as security for payment of attorney's fees" A retaining lien arises from Judiciary Law 475 and is a statutory lien upon service of a notice of lien, which attaches to the case papers, and allows the attorney to retain as in the "general possessory" lien...

Judgment in an ABC News Legal Malpractice Case

Posted on October 29, 2008
In this legal malpractice case, Provenzano v. Pearlman [subscription], recently decided in EDNY, plaintiff was struck in the head by an errant television camera, while on the set of a news TV show. She went to trial in Supreme Kings and lost...

What Does it Take to Change Venue in Legal Malpractice

Posted on October 28, 2008
An unintentionally amusing NY Law Journal article cataloged the social and professional prominence of this Suffolk law firm. When it was sued in Nassau, it moved to change venue to Suffolk. Supreme Court approved the transfer of venue. Per the CPLR one might move in the county where the action is brought or in the county where the action is hoped to be moved...

Plaintiff Loses Both Ends of A Legal Malpractice Case

Posted on October 27, 2008
In this case, plaintiff counterclaimed for legal malpractice in the face of a claim for attorney fees. While not specifically stated, it appears that there were procedural bumps along the way. Not filing for a jury trial, defendant was not permitted to ask for one later...

An Obama Doubter and Legal Malpractice

Posted on October 24, 2008
Besides the garden or varietal political questions over whom should be president, and even the more interesting question of whether a person who was born in a territory rather than a state is eligible to become president [Hawaii became the 50th state in 1959 and Obama was born in 1961, McCain was born at the Coco Solo Naval Air Station the Panama Canal Zone] comes this law suit by today's subject, Phil Berg...

Legal Malpractice Case Dismissed for Lack of Proximate Cause

Posted on October 23, 2008
The elements of legal malpractice are well settled, as the Appellate Divisions write. One of the triumvirate is proximate cause. We've written in the past about the difference between "the" proximate cause and "a" proximate cause, see: Barnett v...

Snow & Ice Cases and Legal Malpractice

Posted on October 22, 2008
New York, being in the northeast , has a rich history of snow & ice cases. A whole series of rules have arisen which accompany and inform the law of accidents on snow & ice. As one example, the precipitation must have already ended for a case to be viable...

The Most Common Cause of Legal Malpractice

Posted on October 21, 2008
Court calendaring...being in court on all assigned conferences, motions, hearings, appearances , is the most frequent source of legal malpractice cases. Right behind are the late filings, blown statutes, and missed deadlines for documents. Here, a big law managing clerk discusses a calendar system for a world wide law firm...

Legal Malpractice and Collateral Estoppel

Posted on October 20, 2008
In this Court of Appeals Decision Judge Smith goes as far back as Judge Cardozo to discuss the basics in this legal malpractice case. As a digression, Justice Benjamin Cardozo, who served both on the New York Court of Appeals and the US Supreme Court was fascinating...

Layer after Layer in Legal Malpractice

Posted on October 16, 2008
Sometimes things go from bad to worse, and then decend even further in legal malpractice litigation. Here is an example. Plaintiff was injured, went to attorney 1 who settled the case without asking plaintiff, then went to attorney 2, then sued attorney 1 and 2...

Legal Malpractice Litigation in Every Sphere

Posted on October 15, 2008
Perez Hilton, DJ Samantha and Legal Malpractice. If any further evidence on the ubiquitous nature of legal malpractice was needed, this story seals the issue. In the high stakes celebrity gossip blogworld, the DJ sued the Blogger Perez and lost...

Bad Faith and Legal Malpractice Litigation

Posted on October 14, 2008
Attorneys deal with issues that have big numbers attached to them. Here is a story about an Indiana law firm that got into a big problem. The article does not say how the negotiation went bad, but the end result was that the law firm assigned its bad faith claim against its own insurer to the State, and walked away paying $ 50,000...

Legal Malpractice in the Hamptons

Posted on October 13, 2008
One of the more interesting aspects of legal malpractice is its utter ubiquity. Look at any institution and lurking behind it may be a case of legal malpractice. It's not surprising, as attorneys are everywhere involved in transactional or litigative work...

Legal Malpractice for Negligent Supervision

Posted on October 10, 2008
Plaintiff obtains a $ 1.2 million dollar verdict and pursues defendant to Florida, trying to collect the judgment. Defendant dies, and plaintiff's attorneys retain Florida counsel to go after the estate. Here in Whalen v DeGraff, Foy, Conway, Holt-Harris & Mealey ,2008 NY Slip Op 06342 [53 AD3d 912] ,July 17, 2008 ,Appellate Division, Third Department , things then went wrong...

Losing All Around in Legal Malpractice

Posted on October 08, 2008
In New York one must show "actual innocence" in a legal malpractice case arising from criminal defense by the target attorney. This standard is very difficult to demonstrate, and generally requires either an acquittal or reversal. Here is a slightly different take from Connecticut, via the Legal Profession Blog...

CPLR 3211 and 3212 Motions in Legal Malpractice

Posted on October 07, 2008
Plaintiff unsuccessfully defended a CPLR 3211 motion brought by attorney group number 1 in a legal malpractice case. Plaintiff was represented by group 1 and then mid-stream terminated them and moved to attorney group 2, who successfully settled the case...

Is the Failure to Investigate Legal Malpractice?

Posted on October 06, 2008
The short answer is, Yes... Here is a more fully reasoned opinion from the Third Department in Thompson v. Seligman, 2008 NY Slip Op 06496 [53 AD3d 1019] ;July 31, 2008 ;Appellate Division, Third Department : "Plaintiff commenced this legal malpractice action against defendants on the ground that they failed to timely advise her that she may have a valid third-party claim...

Privity and Estates in Legal Malpractice

Posted on October 03, 2008
The question of estate legal malpractice is fraught with standing problems. For example, if attorney drafts a will which is the product of undue influence, or demonstrably runs contra to the decedent's desires, who has the capacity to sue? In Texas the rule seems more relaxed than in NY...

The "Lost Opportunity to Settle" in Legal Malpractice

Posted on October 02, 2008
In this case, Silva v. Worby recently decided, the Appellate Division reversed a dismissal under summary judgment over the potential settlement of a case. The lost opportunity to settle a case is not often discussed, but in this short decision the principal is crystal clear...

What Remains Confidential in Legal Malpractice

Posted on October 01, 2008
Documents filed in matrimonial actions remain confidential. Anyone may look at court files, but not matrimonial court files.Domestic Relations Law § 235(1) . But what happens when a divorced plaintiff sues for legal malpractice based upon the divorce? Confidentiality gives way to disclosure...

What of Legal Malpractice and the Plaintiff?

Posted on September 30, 2008
The New York Law Journal reported a bizare instance of attorney misconduct in which plaintiff's trial attorney acted so badly that the case was dismissed, the attorney charged with criminal contempt. tried and convicted. She now faces probation and suspension...

Arbitration Agreements and Attorney Fees

Posted on September 29, 2008
Arbitration in attorney legal fee disputes are governed by 22 NYCRR 1200 and the following statutes. There is a complex statutory scheme, including specific forms, fee dispute committees, hearing schedules, and a body of law which accompanies the fee dispute proceedings...

Bad Blood after a Legal Malpractice Win

Posted on September 26, 2008
Here is a different kind of Streisand Effect, this time in a post-legal malpractice setting. Leigh Jones at Law Com reports on a two firm battle. Plaintiff's firm Bland and Richter successfully sued Nexsen Pruet Adams & Kleemeier for legal malpractice and settled the case...

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