Contrary to the belief of almost all attorneys, legal malpractice cases are rarely brought on a whim. They are rarely brought on a reflex. For the most part, everyone in the case, including the non-lawyer plaintiffs can identify a problem in the representation. The actual, and often decisive battle is at the “but for” level.
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.
Sure, that Pre-Nup is Repulsive, but Sue the Lawyer?
Lombardi v Lombardi 2015 NY Slip Op 03334 Decided on April 22, 2015 Appellate Division, Second Department is an example of a prenuptial agreement that is so overbearing to the wife that the Appellate Division reversed summary judgment and left it for the trial court to evaluate evidence. However, it dismissed the wife’s claim against…
It’s The Opposite of Legal Malpractice
What happens when a plaintiff partnership sues and then loses? Well, in Ernest & Maryanna Jeremias Family Partnership, L.P v Sadykov 2015 NY Slip Op 25100 Decided on April 7, 2015 Appellate Term, Second Department the next thing the plaintiff partnership does is realize that they were represented by a partner who was not an…
A Fee Claim, An Arbitration and Another Fee Claim
Jeffrey M. Rosenblum, P.C. v Casano 2014 NY Slip Op 51629(U) [45 Misc 3d 1218(A)] Decided on November 19, 2014 District Court Of Nassau County, First District Fairgrieve, J. is a perfect example of what all the CLEs tell attorneys not to do. Don’t sue for small fees, because there will inevitably be a legal…
More On Accountant Negligence
We continue from Fridayh. The facts in Hamadeh v Spaulding 2015 NY Slip Op 30027(U) January 8, 2015 Supreme Courty, New York County Docket Number: 114060/09 Judge: Marcy S. Friedman are relatively simple. Accountant is asked how taxpayer can lessen his tax liability, a question we assume is regularly asked of CPAs. He gives wrong…
Lots of Issues Decided in an Accounting Malpractice Case
The facts in Hamadeh v Spaulding 2015 NY Slip Op 30027(U) January 8, 2015 Supreme Courty, New York County
Docket Number: 114060/09 Judge: Marcy S. Friedman are relatively simple. Accountant is asked how taxpayer can lessen his tax liability, a question we assume is regularly asked of CPAs. He gives wrong advice about moving out…
So Many Legal Malpractice Cases Stem From Concerns About Fees
Case is brought, and after a period of time, the attorney seeks to withdraw. Attorney is “remarkably concerned with billing…” Was this why he chose to quit? Problem for the attorney is that judges hearing these motions to be relieved often will not grant the relief on the mere claim that the client has not…
It’s A Short Statute of Limitations and Is Rarely Circumvented
Plaintiffs attempted to bring a legal malpractice action after three years had elapsed, and relied upon pleadings which cited “fraud.” The Appellate Division reminded all that there is no real circumvention of the statute of limitations, and that the fraud has to be extrinsic to the attorney-client relationship.
A Legal Malpractice Date Missed; A Legal Malpractice Case Lost
It’s ironic when a legal malpractice case, which alleges that the attorneys being sued departed from good and accepted practice is itself dismissed for technical reasons. Risk Control Assoc. Ins. Group v Maloof, Lebowitz, Connahan & Oleske, P.C. 2015 NY Slip Op 03067 Decided on April 9, 2015 Appellate Division, First Department is one such…
An Explosion, A Fire, A Legal Malpractice Case
Client owns a gas station. A dump truck and a fuel truck collide and explode. The station is closed for 5 years while remediation of the fuel spill goes on. They sue the trucks, and lose. Was this legal malpractice?
This case appears to be the first application of Grace v. Law in which the…