Originally dismissed in Supreme Court, this case was re-instated by the Appellate Division, First Department last week. Mortenson v Shea ;2009 NY Slip Op 03611 ;Decided on May 5, 2009
Appellate Division, First Department is a situation in which a New Jersey law firm was retained to sue a New York law firm for legal malpractice.
"This action was dismissed on the erroneous grounds that the New Jersey defendants were not and could not be retained to actually commence a legal malpractice action against an attorney in New York State, and that the limited services provided by defendant law firm in attempting to settle the underlying claim did not include a duty to advise plaintiff about the applicable New York statute of limitations. A legal malpractice claim may arise out of the giving of faulty advice to a client (see Scheller v Martabano, 177 AD2d 690 [1991]). Furthermore, an attorney may be liable for his ignorance of the rules of practice, his failure to comply with conditions precedent to suit, his neglect to prosecute an action, or his failure to conduct adequate legal research (see McCoy v Tepper, 261 AD2d 592 [1999]). "