One of the more interesting phenomena is the transition of claims into findings as a case goes to trial. What were formerly "strong" claims, now are final findings of fact. In Krausz v Kaufman 2013 NY Slip Op 30803(U) April 9, 2013 Sup Ct, New York County Docket Number: 104174/2008
Judge Debra A. James
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 at a Trial
Is it possible to prove legal malpractice at a trial which goes to the jury? While an argument can be made that the attorney failed to call a particular witness, or failed to offer a particular piece of evidence, the countervailing argument will be that an attorney may choose among several different reasonable trial strategies…
TMI in a Legal Malpractice Case
As cases become problems, or as basic problems become more prominent in litigation cases, one offshoot is that litigants take it into their own hands to try to remedy the situation. Whylie v Pager 2013 NY Slip Op 50601(U) Decided on April 18, 2013 Supreme Court, Kings County
Schack, J. is just such a case. …
1st Amendment Rights and Legal Malpractice
As the Appellate Division plows through the "what would have been the outcome" analysis of Ruotolo v Mussman & Northey 2013 NY Slip Op 02678 Decided on April 18, 2013
Appellate Division, First Department , we see the in depth factual and hypothetical work that’s done in a legal malpractice case. Here, a former…
Injury Not Serious Enough for Legal Malpractice
Frequently, clients discern mistakes make in their cases, and wish to start a legal malpractice case. Unfortunately, departure from good practice is but one of the four elements of legal malpractice. The merit of most legal malpractice cases is determined by analysis of the middle two points. Was the mistake a proximate cause of damage…
Legal Malpractice and the Judgment Doctrine
Is it that Plaintiff could not articulate a reason why Defendant made a mistake that caused him damage? Is it that the Appellate Division just didn’t like the case and agreed that it should be dismissed? Did the attorneys make a subjectively and objectively reasonable choice of strategy that just didn’t work? We’ll never know. …
The Collateral Estoppel Trap in Legal Malpractice -Workers’ Compensation Model
A basic rule of legal malpractice is that an attorney may not be granted a fee by a court or tribunal if there is legal malpractice present. Since an attorney may not obtain a fee if there has been legal malpractice, it follows, ipso facto, that if a court or a tribunal grants a…
Insurance Company Claims Malpractice Against Its Attorney
In this subrogation case, an insurance company has successfully pleaded fraud and legal malpractice. The insurance company plaintiff proceeded in the subrogation and alleged that legal malpractice was committed in failing to pursue a default judgment. They claimed fraud when the law firm billed for making a motion for a default judgment when it did…
Settlement, Effective Compulsion, and the Underlying Proofs in Legal Malpractice
If one reads enough legal malpractice cases, there are interesting overlaps. One such overlap, with surprising results came up today. in Angeles v Aronsky 2013 NY Slip Op 02454 Decided on April 11, 2013 Appellate Division, First Department we see the following: "For a claim for legal malpractice to be successful, "a plaintiff must…
Limited Retainer or General; Legal Malpractice or Not
Representation of clients may be limited or general. An attorney-client relationship is considered to be general unless it is specifically limited by a retainer agreement. That retainer agreement had best be very specific, and it should set the limits quite clearly. If it does not, then the attorney can be held responsible for all acts…