Client in this case has had some bad turns.  Unjustly convicted of a crime, imprisoned, exonerated, and then the suit against NYS is dismissed.  Client sues attorney for failing to file "documentary" evidence in support of the NYS suit.  At last, Supreme Court denies dismissal and the AD affirms.

In Gioeli v Vlachos ; 2011 NY Slip Op 08559 ; Decided on November 22, 2011 ; Appellate Division, Second Department  the Court finds: "Here, the plaintiff alleges that the defendants committed legal malpractice in their representation of the plaintiff in an underlying claim against the State of New York for unjust conviction and imprisonment pursuant to Court of Claims Act § 8-b. As pertinent to this appeal, "to present [a] claim for unjust conviction and imprisonment, claimant must establish by documentary evidence" his conviction of one or more felonies, that he was sentenced to a term of imprisonment, that he served "any part" of the sentence imposed, that the judgment of conviction was reversed and the indictment dismissed upon certain enumerated grounds, and that the claim was timely filed (Court of Claims Act § 8-b[3] [emphasis added]). It is undisputed that the defendants failed to submit such "documentary evidence" when they filed the underlying claim in the Court of Claims and that the underlying claim was dismissed based on that pleading defect (Reed v State of New York, [*2]78 NY2d 1, 7; Gioeli v State of New York, 39 AD3d 815; Piccarreto v State of New York, 144 AD2d 920, 921; Heiss v State of New York, 143 AD2d 67, 69; Ivey v State of New York, 138 AD2d 963; Stewart v State of New York, 133 AD2d 112, 113; Lanza v State of New York, 130 AD2d 872, 873). Accordingly, contrary to the defendants’ contention, the complaint adequately pleaded the element regarding the defendants’ failure to exercise the ordinary reasonable skill and knowledge commonly possessed by a member of the legal profession (see Leder v Spiegel, 9 NY3d at 837). "