Brother and friend have a Canon brand office automation equipment business. Problem is that they have criminal records and Canon won’t work with them. They turn to Sister, who is an employee of the company. She gets all the stock, and with it, all the debts. Brother and friend have the right to buy back
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.
Defendants go 0-2 in the Motion Sequence
This case arises from representation of the client in a buy-out provision of a stock agreement. Defendants failed to serve a notice required by the stock agreement on individual shareholders, which led to dismissal of claims against them.
In Rehberger v Garguilo & Orzechowski, LLP 2014 NY Slip Op 04182 [118 AD3d 767] June…
Big Case, Good Results, Unhappy with Contingent Fee
The Court of Appeals will be reviewing contingent fees in Matter of Lawrence, deceased. McCallion & Assoc., LLP v Dyche 2014 NY Slip Op 32254(U) August 20, 2014 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 157793/13 Judge: Joan A. Madden is Supreme Court’s look at the same issue. When a client retains an…
Some Head Scratching by the Court in a Legal Malpractice
Medicare costs and reimbursements in the Nursing Home field is "arcane" and probably unknown to readers of legal malpractice blog. In Berkowitz v Abrams, Fensterman, Fensterman,
Eisman, Formato, Ferrara & Einiger, LLP 2014 NY Slip Op 32299(U) August 15, 2014
Sup Ct, New York County Docket Number: 152368/13 Judge: Arthur F. Engoron himself admits…
More on the Proskauer Rose LLP Case
Continuing from yesterday, we discuss one of the largest fraud – legal malpractice cases we have seen.Chambers v Weinstein 2014 NY Slip Op 51331(U) Decided on August 22, 2014 Supreme Court, New York County Sherwood, J.
Proskauer Rose LLP is involved in the case, and walks away with dismissal.The facts are set forth in yesterday’s blog…
Fraud and legal Representation
This case is one of the larger fraud – legal malpractice cases we have seen. In fact, the scope of the fraud is breathtaking. Proskauer Rose LLP is involved in the case, and walks away with dismissal. Here are some of the facts in Chambers v Weinstein 2014 NY Slip Op 51331(U)
Decided on August…
Could the Attorney Have Done More?
Sometimes we read a decision and wonder how the case got to trial. Cinao v Reers 2013 NY Slip Op 05791 [109 AD3d 781] September 11, 2013 Appellate Division, Second Department is one such case.
"Here, the evidence supports the jury’s finding that the defendant did not "depart[ ] from the exercise of that degree…
Settlements and Legal Malpractice
Potential clients often ask whether they should settle the underlying case and then sue their present attorney for legal malpractice, or sue before settling. Aside from the "bird in the hand/bird in the bush" issue, and whether it is better to take something specific now, rather than waiting for the future potential, the rule in…
Conveying a Settlement Offer is Not Enough
In an interesting case to buck the "but for" dismissal trend in legal malpractice, Angeles v Aronsky 2013 NY Slip Op 05955 [109 AD3d 720] September 24, 2013 Appellate Division, First Department points out that when viewed correctly, a summary judgment motion should be denied when there is any question of fact.
"Plaintiff Manuel…
A Tragedy, A Trial, A Transfer
Plaintiff’s child fell from a window. The window was in a multiple dwelling and there was no window guard. The building had no insurance, and the owner eventually took off. Was there legal malpractice in Plaintiff’s attorney failing to file a lis pendens or to seek pre-judgment attachment?
The short answer is no, which illustrates…