We’re continuing to review last years JL 487 cases.  Del-Star Jewelry Corp. v Davidov  
2015 NY Slip Op 31106(U)   June 25, 2015  Supreme Court, New York County  Docket Number: 160690/2013  Judge: Ellen M. Coin is next.  Here, third-party defendant attorneys represented opposing parties and deceitfully told the bankruptcy trustee that “any judgment against [Davidoff] would be uncollectible” because he had limited assets, when in fact he had significant assets.

“The Second Third-Party Complaint (Complaint) pleads one cause of action: for violation of Judiciary Law§ 487. Its allegations of wrongdoing as against the Schillers are: (1) that defendants Rafael Davidov, Leyla Baybulatova and RD Precious Metals, Inc. (collectively, Defendants) “by their attorneys, falsely claim that by December 2012, Second ThirdParty Defendant Eduardo Delgado owed Defendant RD Precious Metals more than $193,000.00”, and that the Schillers have submitted false documentation in this case and colluded with their clients to deceive the court (Second Third-Party Complaint, ~~ 9, 32; emphasis added); (2) that the Schillers represented defendant Rafael Davidov (Davidov) in an Involuntary Chapter 7 proceeding against Debtor Diamond Depot, Inc. in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York; that in the course of that proceeding the Schillers represented that Davidov had limited resources and that any judgment against him would be uncollectible; that in reliance on that representation, the trustee in bankruptcy agreed to accept a reduced off er to settle claims of two creditors; that at the time the Schillers made that representation, Davidov owned and operated at least three other lucrative entities, including defendant RD Precious Metals, Inc.; and that the Schillers intended to deceive the bankruptcy court in order to obtain approval of the reduced settlement amount (Second Third-Party Complaint, ~~ 11, 19-21).

The Schillers argue that the Delgados lack standing to bring this action pursuant to Judiciary Law§ 487, contending that this statute applies only to a pending judicial proceeding in which the plaintiff was a party (Bankers Trust Co. v Cerrato, Sweeney, Cohn, Stahl & Vaccaro, 187 AD2d 384, 386 [Pt Dept 1992]). However, where, as is alleged here, the deception is directed against a court, a pending judicial proceeding is not required; it is sufficient if the deception relates to a prior judicial proceeding (Singer v Whitman & Ransom, 83 AD2d 862 [2d Dept 1981]). Accordingly, the Schillers’ contention falls of its own weight.

However, the case was still dismissed.  “The Second Third-Party Complaint contains no allegation that the Schillers’ deception of the bankruptcy court and trustee caused any injury to the Delgados. Thus, this aspect of the Second Third-Party Complaint fails to state a cause of action for violation of Judiciary Law§ 487 (See Bohn v 176 W.87th St. Owners Corp., 106 AD3d 598, 600 [1st Dept 2013]; Seldon v Spinnell, 95 AD3d 779 [1 5T Dept 2012]). ”

 

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Andrew Lavoott Bluestone

Andrew Lavoott Bluestone has been an attorney for 40 years, with a career that spans criminal prosecution, civil litigation and appellate litigation. Mr. Bluestone became an Assistant District Attorney in Kings County in 1978, entered private practice in 1984 and in 1989 opened…

Andrew Lavoott Bluestone has been an attorney for 40 years, with a career that spans criminal prosecution, civil litigation and appellate litigation. Mr. Bluestone became an Assistant District Attorney in Kings County in 1978, entered private practice in 1984 and in 1989 opened his private law office and took his first legal malpractice case.

Since 1989, Bluestone has become a leader in the New York Plaintiff’s Legal Malpractice bar, handling a wide array of plaintiff’s legal malpractice cases arising from catastrophic personal injury, contracts, patents, commercial litigation, securities, matrimonial and custody issues, medical malpractice, insurance, product liability, real estate, landlord-tenant, foreclosures and has defended attorneys in a limited number of legal malpractice cases.

Bluestone also took an academic role in field, publishing the New York Attorney Malpractice Report from 2002-2004.  He started the “New York Attorney Malpractice Blog” in 2004, where he has published more than 4500 entries.

Mr. Bluestone has written 38 scholarly peer-reviewed articles concerning legal malpractice, many in the Outside Counsel column of the New York Law Journal. He has appeared as an Expert witness in multiple legal malpractice litigations.

Mr. Bluestone is an adjunct professor of law at St. John’s University College of Law, teaching Legal Malpractice.  Mr. Bluestone has argued legal malpractice cases in the Second Circuit, in the New York State Court of Appeals, each of the four New York Appellate Divisions, in all four of  the U.S. District Courts of New York and in Supreme Courts all over the state.  He has also been admitted pro haec vice in the states of Connecticut, New Jersey and Florida and was formally admitted to the US District Court of Connecticut and to its Bankruptcy Court all for legal malpractice matters. He has been retained by U.S. Trustees in legal malpractice cases from Bankruptcy Courts, and has represented municipalities, insurance companies, hedge funds, communications companies and international manufacturing firms. Mr. Bluestone regularly lectures in CLEs on legal malpractice.

Based upon his professional experience Bluestone was named a Diplomate and was Board Certified by the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys in 2008 in Legal Malpractice. He remains Board Certified.  He was admitted to The Best Lawyers in America from 2012-2019.  He has been featured in Who’s Who in Law since 1993.

In the last years, Mr. Bluestone has been featured for two particularly noteworthy legal malpractice cases.  The first was a settlement of an $11.9 million dollar default legal malpractice case of Yeo v. Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman which was reported in the NYLJ on August 15, 2016. Most recently, Mr. Bluestone obtained a rare plaintiff’s verdict in a legal malpractice case on behalf of the City of White Plains v. Joseph Maria, reported in the NYLJ on February 14, 2017. It was the sole legal malpractice jury verdict in the State of New York for 2017.

Bluestone has been at the forefront of the development of legal malpractice principles and has contributed case law decisions, writing and lecturing which have been recognized by his peers.  He is regularly mentioned in academic writing, and his past cases are often cited in current legal malpractice decisions. He is recognized for his ample writings on Judiciary Law § 487, a 850 year old statute deriving from England which relates to attorney deceit.