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.
Buffalo and Rochester: When Plaintiff settles the underlying action, or fails to take an appeal on a dismissal, may he still commence a legal malpractice case? In Grace v Law 2013 NY Slip Op 05383 [108 AD3d 1173] July 19, 2013 Appellate Division, Fourth Department
"We reject defendants’ invitation to extend the ruling in…
Cooperstown, NY: Plaintiff wanted to sell his construction company, and was very involved in the transaction. In retrospect, the Appellate Division, Third Department found that he was too involved to merely blame his attorney for the bad outcome. Hattem v Smith 2013 NY Slip Op 07791 [111 AD3d 1107] November 21, 2013 …
White Plains: We’ve often identified ways in which legal malpractice is not like other litigation. One such area is the successor attorney problem. In legal malpractice, if attorney 1 makes a mistake, and the client then fires attorney 1 and hires attorney 2, then attorney one is basically off the hook if there is…
Albany: Even when plaintiff points out a mistake that an attorney "unfamiliar with the Board’s apportionment doctrine" made at the Workers’ Compensation hearing his argument that the Board would have found differently was "too speculative." Result? Case dismissed.
"Plaintiff received workers’ compensation benefits as a result of a strained hip he sustained in the course…
Rochester: The Fourth Department heard this case once, and sent it back to Oneida County. Supreme Court dismissed it once again, and the Fourth Department has once again sent it back to Oneida County for trial.Dischiavi v Calli 2013 NY Slip Op 07289 [111 AD3d 1258] November 8, 2013 Appellate Division, Fourth…
Albany / Syracuse:
The statute of limitations exists so that the courts can carry on. Were it not for the S/L, courts would still be delving into wrongs that took place before World War 2. Legal malpractice has a 3 year statute of limitations, which is somewhat ameliorated by the continuous representation doctrine. So…
Albany: The Third Department decided the matter of Hyman v Schwartz 2014 NY Slip Op 01362 [114 AD3d 1110] February 27, 2014 Appellate Division, Third Department and found that although a plethora of mistakes could be pled in the complaint, no prima facie case of legal malpractice could be stated. Why? The complaint simply could…
Defendant attorney is served with a "bare" summons and complaint. He sends it on to his carrier.He defines a "bare" summons and complaint as one which does not have an index number, filing date or basis of venue. Carrier appoints a defense attorney who tries to call the plaintiff’s attorney, all to no avail. Motion…
Judiciary Law 487 is a deceit statute. It reads: " § 487. Misconduct by attorneys. An attorney or counselor who:
1. Is guilty of any deceit or collusion, or consents to any deceit or
collusion, with intent to deceive the court or any party; or,
2. Wilfully delays his client’s suit with a view to…
When you start reading Blanco v Polanco 2014 NY Slip Op 02735 Decided on April 23, 2014 Appellate Division, Second Department it seems to be a simple case. Buyers purchase a house, and don’t do an inspection. They get a punch list, and then discover that the upstairs apartment does not have a Certificate of…
