OK, say you’re a law firm, and the client is a Board of Managers, and the President is an Attorney.  You do work for them, and things don’t go well.  You can blame the "micro-managing" President/Attorney, no?

Well, in Board of Mgrs. of Bridge Tower Place Condominium v Starr Assoc. LLP  2013 NY Slip Op 07684  Decided on November 19, 2013  Appellate Division, First Department  the answer is NO.  In fact, as rarely happens, Plaintiff obtains summary judgment on liability and dismissing the affirmative defense of comparative fault.

"This Court previously held that the stipulation drafted by defendants unambiguously stripped plaintiff of its right to amend its bylaws to attain a specific result in connection with the underlying action (see Luzzi v Bridge Tower Place Condominium, 52 AD3d 290 [1st Dept 2008]). Under those circumstances, no expert testimony was necessary to establish that defendants’ conduct fell below the standards of the profession generally (see S & D Petroleum Co. v Tamsett, 144 AD2d 849, 850 [3d Dept 1988]). Because the alternative to the stipulation was not, as defendants contend, to litigate the underlying action, but for plaintiff to exercise its right to amend the bylaws immediately, the motion court did not err in finding "but for causation" as a matter of law (cf. Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP v Fashion Boutique of Short Hills, Inc., 10 AD3d 267, 271-272 [1st Dept 2004]).

Furthermore, although plaintiff’s president is an attorney, and did see drafts of the stipulation, the record does not raise a triable issue as to whether he arrogated to himself the role of drafting the stipulation, or micro-managed the negotiation. Rather, the record shows that plaintiff relied on counsel to effect the strategy of preserving in the stipulation the right to amend the bylaws. Accordingly, the defenses of comparative fault were properly dismissed (see Mandel, Resnik & Kaiser, P.C. v E.I. Elecs., Inc., 41 AD3d 386 [1st Dept 2007]). "