Last year brought estate v. estate attorney legal malpractice after the Schneider decision in the Court of Appeals. Today’s NYLJ brings the story of a law suit against Jacoby & Meyers and Whitehaven Financial Group for legal malpractice and usury.  They re-printed the complaint

As all know, there are lending entities that are willing to bet on litigation.  The basic paradigm is that the lender gives a relatively small amount of money to the plaintiff, say $ 30,000.  A high interest rate ensues, but only upon success in the underlying suit.  Hence, the lender takes a bet with the plaintiff on the successful outcome of litigation.  Is this the sport of Kings?

Here, plaintiff sues his attorney Jacoby & Meyer. The facts seem to lean in the attorney’s favor. "In the suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court (See Complaint), Mr. Rodriguez alleges that Jacoby & Meyers; former Jacoby & Meyers’ attorney Sheila Rosenrauch; Andrew Finkelstein, the firm’s managing partner; and Finkelstein & Partners committed malpractice and breached their fiduciary duty to him. He also alleges that his attorneys violated §487 of the Judiciary Law, which penalizes deceit or collusion by an attorney and willfully delaying a client’s suit "with a view to his own gain."

Mr. Rodriguez claims his lawyer at Jacoby & Meyers persuaded him to sign a "misleading" letter containing a statement that said he had been advised it was not in his interest to accept money from Whitehaven. Although he acknowledges signing the letter, he insists that no lawyer explained the terms to him.

Mr. Rodriguez also is suing Whitehaven for unjust enrichment, negligence per se and for violating §349 of the state General Business Law, which prohibits deceptive business practices. He claims the company characterized what was really a loan as an investment to evade the state ban of usury and is seeking recision of the deal.

Mr. Finkelstein called the suit a ‘fantasy.’"