A frequent sports simile is “no harm-no foul” which means that even if you are caught doing something wrong, if no one is harmed, it will be overlooked.  The same is true both in legal malpractice and in violations of Judiciary Law § 487.  In legal mal, if there is no “but for” (the mistake did not affect the outcome), then no recovery.  In Judiciary Law § 487. if there are no damages from the deceit, then no case.

In Gumarova v Law Offs. of Paul A. Boronow, P.C.  2015 NY Slip Op 05155 [129 AD3d 911]
June 17, 2015  Appellate Division, Second Department we see one example.  “Judiciary Law § 487 provides that an attorney who “[i]s guilty of any deceit or collusion, or consents to any deceit or collusion, with intent to deceive the court or any party” is guilty of a misdemeanor, and “forfeits to the party injured treble damages, to be recovered in a civil action.” “Since Judiciary Law § 487 authorizes an award of damages only to ‘the party injured,’ an injury to the plaintiff resulting from the alleged deceitful conduct of the defendant attorney is an essential element of a cause of action based on a violation of that statute” (Rozen v Russ & Russ, P.C., 76 AD3d 965, 968 [2010]).

Here, the Supreme Court properly granted that branch of the defendants’ motion which was pursuant to CPLR 3211 (a) (7) to dismiss the cause of action alleging a violation of Judiciary Law § 487. The cause of action alleging a violation of Judiciary Law § 487 fails to sufficiently allege that the plaintiff suffered an injury proximately caused by any alleged deceit or collusion on the part of the defendants, and no such injury can reasonably be inferred from the allegations in the complaint (see Bohn v 176 W. 87th St. Owners Corp., 106 AD3d 598, 600 [2013]; Rozen v Russ & Russ, P.C., 76 AD3d at 968). Chambers, J.P., Hall, Cohen and Miller, JJ., concur.”