The basic rules of summary judgment, well understood and well settled must be followed.  Whether its the need for a person with knowledge to give an affidavit, or that you need to provide prima facie entitlement to get the court to look at your papers, the basics must be followed. 

Cullin v Spiess  2014 NY Slip Op 07975 [122 AD3d 792]  November 19, 2014  Appellate Division, Second Department is one example.   "The plaintiff commenced this action against the defendant, her former attorney, alleging, inter alia, that he committed legal malpractice, made negligent misrepresentations, and violated Judiciary Law § 487, in connection with the settlement of a contested probate proceeding in which the defendant represented the plaintiff. The plaintiff moved for summary judgment on the complaint and the defendant cross-moved for summary judgment dismissing the fourth, sixth, eighth, and twelfth causes of action, all of which alleged violations of Judiciary Law § 487 (1). The Supreme Court denied the plaintiff’s motion and granted the defendant’s cross motion.

The plaintiff failed to demonstrate her prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law on the complaint. The plaintiff failed to submit, with her moving papers, an affidavit by a person with knowledge of the facts (see CPLR 3212 [b]; Currie v Wilhouski, 93 AD3d 816, 817 [2012]; Menzel v Plotnick, 202 AD2d 558, 559 [1994]). The affirmation of the plaintiff’s attorney, who did not have personal knowledge of the facts, was without probative value, and the remaining exhibits were insufficient to support the motion for summary judgment (see Zuckerman v City of New York, 49 NY2d 557, 563 [1980]; Rivers v Birnbaum, 102 AD3d 26 [2012]; 1911 Richmond Ave. Assoc., LLC v G.L.G. Capital, LLC, 60 AD3d 1021, 1022 [2009]; Menzel v Plotnick, 202 AD2d at 559).

In contrast, the defendant demonstrated his prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law dismissing the fourth, sixth, eighth, and twelfth causes of action alleging that he violated Judiciary Law § 487, by establishing that there was no evidence of his alleged intent to deceive the plaintiff in connection with the settlement (see Dupree v Voorhees, 102 AD3d 912 [2013]; [*2]Boglia v Greenberg, 63 AD3d 973, 975 [2009]; Pui Sang Lai v Shuk Yim Lau, 50 AD3d 758 [2008]; Knecht v Tusa, 15 AD3d 626, 627 [2005]). In opposition, the plaintiff failed to raise a triable issue of fact (see Alvarez v Prospect Hosp., 68 NY2d 320, 324 [1986]).

Accordingly, the Supreme Court properly denied the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on the complaint and properly granted the defendant’s cross motion for summary judgment dismissing the fourth, sixth, eighth, and twelfth causes of action. Skelos, J.P., Roman, Hinds-Radix and LaSalle, JJ., concur."

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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.