Legal malpractice cases are subject to all the rules. Sometimes they may seem even more subject to the rules than are other case, but in Economic Alchemy LLC v Byrne Poh LLP   2019 NY Slip Op 33739(U) December 20, 2019 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 653632/2015
Judge: Lucy Billings the issue of note is how the question of successor attorney immunity might be resolved on discovery issues.

“In this action for defendants’ legal malpractice in prosecuting patent applications for plaintiff, defendants move for penalties due to its noncompliance with the order dated October 11, 2019, and the stipulated Status Conference Order dated December 5, 2019, or to compel its production of documents in compliance with those orders.”

“Plaintiff admits that it has not produced the correspondence by its patent attorneys who preceded and succeeded defendants that they requested and the court ordered. By December 23, 2019, plaintiff shall .produce any documents not privileged or protected under C.P.L.R. § 310`1(c) or (d) (2) or shall specify an applicable privilege or protection in a log that includes any withheld document’s type, subject, and date and other information necessary to identify the document, including the persons to whom it was sent or from whom it was received. C.P.L.R. §§
3120(1) (i), 3122(a) (1) and (b); Stephen v. State of New York, 117 A.D.3d 820, 820-21 (2d Dep’t 2014); Ural v. Encompass Ins. Co. of Am., · 97 A. D. 3d 562, 566-67 (2d Dep’ t 2012) . These documents are material and necessary to defendants’ defenses that plaintiff’s predecessor attorneys caused the damages plaintiff claims. in this ‘ action and that its successor attorneys had and continue to have ample opportunities to mitigate its claimed damages. Plaintiff’s noncompliance with repeated deadlines to produce these documents or a privilege log warrants a further penalty if
plaintiff fails to complete this production by December 23, 2019. To the extent that plaintiff fails to produce.by then any documents or privilege log pertaining to correspondence by plaintiff’s patent attorneys ~ho preceded defendants, the issue of whether any predecessor attorneys caused the damages plaintiff claims in. this action shall be resolved in defendants’ favor. To the extent that plaintiff fails to produce by December 23. 2019, any documents or privilege log pertaining to correspondence by plaintiff’s patent attorneys who succeeded defendants, the issue of whether any successor attorneys could have mitigated the damages plaintiff claims in this action shall be resolved in
defendants’ favor. C.P.L.R. § 3126(1); Crooke v. Bonofacio, 147 A.D.3d 510, 510-11 (1st. Dep’t 2017); Baldwin v. Gerard Ave;, LLC, 58 A.D.3d 484, 484-85 (1st Dep’t 2009); Horizon Inc. v. Wolkowicki, 55 A.D.3d 337, 338 1st Dep’t 2008); Longo v. Armor El. Co, 307 A.D.2d 848, 849 (1st Dep’t 2003). See Weissman v. 20 E. 9th St. Corp., 48 A.D.3d 242, 243 (1st Dep~t 2008); Schilling v. Quiros~ 23 A.D.3d 243, 244 (1st Dep’t 2005). “

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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.