Here is how a borrowing statute affects litigation and why a Pennsylvania statute of limitations applies to New York litigation.  CPLR 202 requires that when a nonresident sues on a cause of action accruing outside New York, CPLR 202 requires the cause of action to be timely under the limitations periods of both New York and the jurisdiction where the cause of action accrued.   "This prevents nonresidents from shopping in New York for a favorable Statute of Limitations." Global Financial Corp v. Triarc, 93 NY2d 525 (1999).

In Merritt v. Blumenthal, Supreme Court, New York County, Fried, J. we find:

" New York’s borrowing statute, CPLR §202, applies to determine the statute of limitations that governs the malpractice and Judiciary Code claims at issue here. The parties’ dispute regards the outcome of the application of CPLR §202. Specifically, Defendants contend that proper application CPLR §202 requires that the claims in this case be subject to the Pennsylvania statute of limitations, whereas Plaintiff argues that analysis under CPLR §202 leads to the conclusion that either the Delaware of New York statute of limitations applies. Under the shorter Pennsylvania statute of limitations, Plaintiff’s claims would be time-barred. They would still be viable under the New York or Delaware statutes.
 

"This action arises out of Plaintiff’s failed business relationship with a former client of Defendant Michael V. Blumenthal, Esq., involving investments in real estate and race horses. Plaintiffs’ allegations can be characterized as (1) claiming that Mr. Blumenthal committed malpractice against Plaintiff in the course of his involvement in the business transactions and subsequent litigation between Plaintiff and Mr. Blumenthal’s then-client, Ira Russack, and (2) claiming that Defendant violated New York Judiciary Code §487 by offering false testimony when called as a fact witness in the litigation between Plaintiff and Mr. Russack. Defendants Mr. Blumenthal and his former law firms, Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner LLP and Thelen LLP (collectively, Defendants) move to dismiss on the grounds that Plaintiff’s claims are time-barred and, additionally, that the Complaint does not state a cause of action under New York Judiciary Code §487. For the reasons stated below, Defendants’ motion is granted."
 

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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.