Plaintiff naturally thought that when the AD reversed dismissal of the complaint under CPLR 3211 it would have some effect on a later motion for summary judgment. This was incorrect. In Harris v Barbera 2018 NY Slip Op 05023 Decided on July 5, 2018 Appellate Division, Second Department (without much explanation) held that while the
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 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.
The Statute of Limitations is 3 Years, And Not A Day More
King Tower Realty Corp. v G & G Funding Corp. 2018 NY Slip Op 05027 Decided on July 5, 2018 Appellate Division, Second Department illustrates the power of the statute of limitations. While plaintiff may succeed in Supreme Court, many such decisions are reversed in the AD. This is one.
“The plaintiff commenced this action…
A Lot of Litigation, All For Naught
Plaintiff is injured on a Greyhound Bus, and sues. Case is litigated to note of issue, and then “deemed abandoned.” A new law firm is hired but they do not move to restore within the year. After several years, a motion is made to restore, which is denied. A legal malpractice case follows, and after…
Who’s Responsible For What in a Condo Flood?
A new luxury condo is built on the Bowery and on a cold night, pipes freeze. 80,000 gallons of water pour through the building, and when workers start to fix the problem, more and more problems are found. Who is responsible? The Sponsor ? The contractors?
This Time It’s Only Contract, Not Professional Negligence
The trinity of claims in legal malpractice is “Legal Malpractice”, “Breach of Contract” and “Breach of Fiduciary Duty.” Often, the breach of contact is dismissed as duplicitive of the LM, and the Breach of Fiduciary Duty is similarly treated. Here, in an about-face, the First Department takes a differing view in City of New York …
Contract v. Tort and How it Affects Professionals
MINEOLA: Millet v Kamen 2018 NY Slip Op 28181 Decided on May 31, 2018 Supreme Court, Nassau County Marber, J. is a case that discusses the balance in obligation and remedy between Professionals and others. Sometimes professionals, such as defendant-architect do business with non-professionals, but do not render professional services. In this case Defendant…
Speculative v. Intervening Causation in a Legal Malpractice Case
Client is injured and several municipality defendants may be liable. Attorneys fail to file a Notice of Claim within the requisite 90 days. Attorneys are fired and new attorneys hired. One year and 90 days pass. Is there legal malpractice and if so, who might be responsible?
Liporace v Neimark & Neimark, LLP 2018 NY…
A Veteran Legal Malpractice Pro-Se Litigant and Service Problems
Debra Cascardo is a pro-se litigant in Cascardo v Macklowitz 2018 NY Slip Op 31231(U) June 8, 2018 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 101528/2017 Judge: Frank P. Nervo. One of her earlier legal malpractice cases, in her married name, added to the Harvey line of cases in which a legal malpractice case is…
It’s Not a Bilateral Situation
Central Amusement Intl. LLC v Lexington Ins. Co. 2018 NY Slip Op 04095 Decided on June 7, 2018 Appellate Division, First Department demonstrates that while permission to amend a pleading should be freely given, its not the same standard for the complaint as it is for the answer.
“The motion court did not abuse its…
Matrimonial Settlements and Attorney Fees
NEW CITY: A recurring strain of legal malpractice cases come from matrimonial settlements. More than any other sector of litigation, matrimonial settlements tempt the Courts to avoid a “effectively compelled to settle” analysis in favor of a “I’m satisfied with my attorney” analysis. Imagine if medical malpractice law allowed a surgical patient to be awoken…