In Coalition of Landlords, Homeowners, & Merchants, Inc. v Glass, https://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2025/2025_05936.htm2025 NY Slip Op 05936 [242 AD3d 1172] October 29, 2025 Appellate Division, Second Department it was alleged that a false lease was used to defeat a claim. The Judiciary Law 487 claim was that the attorneys knew the lease was false
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.
Legal Malpractice Case Lost On Debtor-Creditor Issues
Howlader v Aranow Law, P.C. 2025 NY Slip Op 05505 [242 AD3d 841] October 8, 2025
Appellate Division, Second Department is a case lost to plaintiff on the “but for” axis, where the court found that Plaintiff would not have obtained a homestead exemption in bankruptcy, so there was no damage.
“In this legal malpractice…
Possibly the Most Wide-Ranging Award Against an Attorney, Ever
Sanders Equities LLC v Maldonado 2025 NY Slip Op 34592(U) December 17, 2025
Supreme Court, Nassau County Docket Number: Index No. 605681/2022
Judge: Sharon M.J. Gianelli is the only decision we remember where plaintiff was wholly successful, obtained an inquest, and received legal malpractice damages, breach of fiduciary duty damages, disgorgement of previously paid fees…
A Pro-Se Claim Goes Down In Possible AI Flame
In Hilpert v 16 Judge SPV LLC 2025 NY Slip Op 34683(U) December 4, 2025
Supreme Court, Kings County Docket Number: Index No. 522220/2025
Judge: Reginald A. Boddie the pro-se case ends in dismissal, sanctions and a vexatious litigant finding against the pro-se plaintiff. AI research may have had a part.
“Defendant David Koshers, Esq.
Bankruptcy Is Always Looming
Sales of assets and sales of businesses always face a looming threat of bankruptcy if the consideration is stock or later payments. In Lobesity LLC v Thompson Hine LLP
2025 NY Slip Op 34701(U) December 4, 2025 Supreme Court, New York County
Docket Number: Index No. 159051/2024 Judge, Joel M. Cohen found that there was…
Not Enough “But For” Here
Patel v Rose Law Group PLLC 2025 NY Slip Op 52027(U) Decided on November 19, 2025
Supreme Court, New York County Lebovits, J. demonstrates where the central locus of almost all legal malpractice claims lies: in the “but for” causation analysis. Here, plaintiffs pointed out discovery shortcomings and missing arguments. That, however, was insufficient.
“Plaintiff…
The Retainer Agreement Dictates Standing To Sue
Tsirklin v Wolfe 2025 NY Slip Op 52011(U) Decided on December 9, 2025 Supreme Court, Westchester County Rivera, J. makes one surprising finding, and one easily understandable finding.
A non-party attorney’s affirmation (using pre-2024 language was ruled inadmissible for lack of the 2024 CPLR 2016 language. The retainer agreement was held to determine whether plaintiff…
Who Earned Fees Here?
Gelwan v De Ratafia 2025 NY Slip Op 07093 Decided on December 18, 2025 Appellate Division, First Department is a convoluted story of old attorneys, new attorneys, associated attorneys and a fee which was pursued by each of the attorneys.
“Order, Supreme Court, New York County (David B. Cohen, J.), entered on or about October…
The Strategy Defense
Nerayoff v Covington & Burling LLP 2025 NY Slip Op 34563(U) November 25, 2025 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: Index No. 158208/2024 Judge: Mary V. Rosado, is that avis rara criminal defense legal malpractice case that permits the claim upon a showing of actual innocence. While that structural defense was not deployed or…
22 NYCRR 202.27 and Legal Malpractice
While many court conferences are held virtually (and practitioners almost universally relish this change), there are still many in-person, in-court conferences. The single failure of plaintiff’s attorney to attend a conference can be the basis for dismissal of plaintiff’s case, which is certainly a drastic outcome. In Marathon Strategies, LLC v Centennial Props. Inc. 2025…