InLaw Offs. of D’amico & Assoc., PLLC v D’Elia ; 2011 NY Slip Op 21160 ; Appellate Term, Second Department attorney (plaintiff) has sued client (defendant) for fees, while at the same time attorney (defendant) is being sued for legal malpractice in Supreme Court by Client (plaintiff.) What happens to the Civil Court fee
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.
Real Property all Around the World
A French artist wants to buy an apartment in New York for a studio and living space. So far, this could be the start of a fairy tale in which the artist comes to NY, works hard, triumphs, etc. But, this real estate transaction soon turned to legal malpractice litigation. One reason for the problems…
A Few Additional Words in a Complaint for Legal Malpractice
Would the words "mutual understanding" have made the difference in this case? Continuous representation by an attorney of a client requires actual work, a mutual understanding that further work has to be performed and a relationship of trust and confidence. In Landow v Snow Becker Krauss P.C. 2012 NY Slip Op 31971(U) July 10…
Attorneys, Yes…Accountants, No
Attorneys are subject to a triumvirate of claims, which may generally be: legal malpractice in tort, legal malpractice in contract and breach of fiduciary duty. Attorneys are fiduciaries of their clients, but interestingly, accountants (even CPAs) are not. In Knockout Vending Worldwide, LLC v Grodsky Caporrino & Kaufman CPA’s, P.C. 2012 NY Slip Op 31855(U) …
An Unusual Use of Judiciary Law 487
Datatreasury Corp. v Del Col; 2012 NY Slip Op 31913(U); July 5, 2012; Sup Ct, Suffolk County
Docket Number: 11-26774; Judge: John J.J. Jones Jr represents a very unusual use of Judiciary Law 487. It comes mid-case in a commercial setting.
Judge Jones writes: "As is relevant to the instant action, Del Col, in…
Attorney Fees and Legal Malpractice (Part 3)
We’re still looking at Wortman v. Cheng today.
Although at oral argument, plaintiff’s principal stated he was not challenging the contingency fee agreement the law firm is, in fact, doing just that. Wortman states in his February 17, 2012 affidavit that "I am entitled to the quantum meruit value of my services In the…
Legal Malpractice and Attorney Fees Part 2
In Wortman v. Cheng, which we started to write about last week Justice Gische lays out a primer of the various attorney fee claims, and how they interrelate with legal malpractice.
"The elements of a claim for quantum r meruit am:( It)he performance of services in good faith; (2) the acceptance of services…
Legal Malpractice and Attorney Fees – A Primer
Legal Malpractice and Attorney Fees are coupled throughout the case law involving attorneys. They generally arrive on the scene together, and resolution of one generally disposes of the other. In Daniel R. Wotman & Assoc., PLLC v Chang 2012 NY Slip Op 31845(U) July 9, 2012
Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 110893/2010 Judge…
Egos, Alter-Egos and Legal Malpractice
People start LLCs and other juridical entities in order to obtain a shield from personal liability. Interests change over time which can cause difficulties later. Brach v Levine 2012 NY Slip Op 51312(U) Decided on July 16, 2012 Supreme Court, Kings County Battaglia, J. is an example.
Despite the shocking allegation that defendant " Levine…
Construction Cases, Multiple Contractors and Legal Malpractice
In New York City condominiums are a rich source of litigation. At the ownership level, one sees litigation over the buying and selling; at a personal injury level, one sees slips and falls. In the construction of the buildings, negligence and indemnification between general contractors and subs is an ongoing field of law. Here, in…