In a 5 year old case, a default judgment was granted and upheld on a motion to reargue/renew. Walker v Simmsparris 2023 NY Slip Op 32491(U) July 7, 2023
Supreme Court, Kings County Docket Number: Index No. 506589/2018 Judge: Richard J. Montelione seems to be a case where the attorneys do not have insurance coverage nor insurance defense, and appeal to be pro-se.

“This is an action, inter alia, for legal malpractice regarding the alleged failure of
defendants Michele Simmsparris and Kwesi Simmsparris (“moving defendants” or “defendants”) to answer a complaint on behalf of the plaintiff in an unrelated matter and to take other actions to , protect the interest of the plaintiff which was commenced by filing the summons and complaint on April 2, 2018. The Plaintiff previously moved for default judgment against defendants, Michele Simmsparris and Kwesi Simmsparris, by motion filed on June 25, 2018, but this motion was held in abeyance pending the determination of the traverse hearing. The court referred the issue of proper service to a Referee for a traverse hearing by order dated December 6, 2018 regarding defendants Michele Simmsparris and K wesi Simmsparris. The Referee by decision
dated July 9, 2019 recommended that the traverse be overruled as proper service was effectuated upon the defendants Michele Simmsparris and Kwesi Simmsparris. The Notice of Entry of the Referee’s decision was served by “Notice of Entry” on July 16, 2019 (the Referee’s Report is not a court order and therefore a Notice of Entry was unnecessary).”

“All other issues have all been addressed in the court’s prior order. Defendants now move to vacate their default under CPLR 317 and extend their time to answer under CPLR 2004. However, defendants fail to inform the court as to when they received notice of the summons and complaint which would show that they did not have adequate time in which to defend the action and this failure is fatal to their application to vacate their judgment under CPLR 317. See 259 Milford, LLC v FV-1, Inc., 211 AD3d 658,661, 179 NYS3d 707, 710, 2022 NY Slip Op 06898, 2, 2022 WL 17480676 [2d Dept 2022]:”

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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.

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