Judiciary Law 487 is tantalizingly raised, but not resolved in Solomon v Silverstein 
2017 NY Slip Op 51400(U)   Decided on October 11, 2017  Supreme Court, Richmond County
Minardo, J., the story of two sisters feuding over the care and assistance of their mother.  Mom deposited $ 40,000 and the question is whether the two daughters share or one takes all.

They litigated in Surrogate’s Court and now are litigating in Supreme Court.  If they are paying attorneys by the hour, surely the fees have overtaken the $ 40,000.  Here, defendant counterclaimed for JL § 487 because plaintiff’s attorney verified the complaint.  Supreme Court noted and ignored the motion to dismiss this counterclaim.

“Turning to the cross motion which is presently before the Court, plaintiff seeks an order [*5](1) pursuant to CPLR §§ 3124 and 3126, striking the counterclaim of defendant, [FN2] (2) striking defendant’s affirmative defenses for failure to adequately respond to plaintiff’s demand for bill of particulars and notice for discovery and inspection, (3) precluding defendant from offering evidence at trial in defense of this action for failing to timely and adequately respond to the above demands, (4) for sanctions against defendant for her frivolous, libelous and baseless counterclaim, and (5) enlarging plaintiff’s time to e-file her affidavit of service in this action.

Without addressing the merits of defendant’s purported counterclaim, this Court will not impose the penalties sought pursuant CPLR § 3126 (2) and (3) absent a showing by plaintiff that defendant wilfully failed to disclose information or refused to obey an order for disclosure. As such, the branch of the cross motion which seeks this relief and sanctions must be denied without prejudice. The branch of the cross motion which is to compel disclosure pursuant to CPLR § 3124 is granted solely to the extent that this matter shall be set down for a compliance conference on ______”

Footnote 2:Defendant’s counterclaim to recover damages in the amount of $100,000.00 is predicated upon her attorney’s alleged violation of the Judiciary Law § 487 and the doctrine of respondeat superior. Defendant asserts that the verification of the complaint by plaintiff’s attorney is patently false and made with the intent to deceive the court, which constitutes “wrongful and morally culpable conduct” for which plaintiff is responsible.”

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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.