It’s pretty well accepted that a legal malpractice claim accrues on the date the mistake is made, but in . DURAN, -v- MOODY, REDNISS MOODY LLP, EDWARD J. GREENFIELD, LAW OFFICE OF EDWARD J. GREENFIELD, Defendants. o. 11 Civ. 6155 (LTS)(JLC) UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK 2012 U.S. Dist.
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.
My Job or Yours, and is it Legal Malpractice?
The Fourth Department, in what we see as strong terms, reiterated that it is always the attorney’s job to prepare the case, and that responsibility may not be shifted to the client. Even when the client participates in the preparation it remains a responsibility of the attorney.
Legal Malpractice of the “we paid for to fix your mistake” Variety
Legal malpractice litigation is aimed at a large variety of events. Damages are suffered by clients in two distinct areas. One is where an underlying damage award is lost. Think auto accident which should have netted personal injury award is brought too late.
A second area of damages is unnecessary legal fees to remedy an…
Legal Fees, Legal Malpractice and Bankrutpcy
Client was sued for legal fees and counterclaimed for legal malpractice. As has happened many times before, a bankruptcy filing prior to the law suit deprives client of the capacity to sue the attorneys. How does this happen?
In the Bankruptcy petition, one must schedule all potential claims that one reasonably knows of. This includes a…
The Battle and The War in a Legal Malpractice Litigation
Potential legal malpractice clients often wonder whether it is better to try to fix the problem or sue the attorney. The answer to this question is the highest form of speculation. Its far more difficult to predict the future events in litigation than to pick a winner from a 9 horse field.
A Multi-County Legal Malpractice Case Proceeds
7 related legal malpractice actions are now joined and will be jointly tried in Nassau County. in Alizio v Feldman 2012 NY Slip Op 05378 Decided on July 5, 2012 Appellate Division, Second Department we see the aftermath of a partnership battle. "The plaintiffs commenced this action, inter alia, to recover damages for legal malpractice…
Earlier Decisions Doom Later Case in Legal Malpractice
Justice Judith Gische writes clear and unambiguous decisions, and often, one side or the other gets hurt. Schindler v Lester Schwab Katz & Dwyer, LLP ; 2011 NY Slip Op 31519(U); Supreme Court, New York County; Docket Number: 115967/2010; Judge: Judith J. Gische is one example.
Plaintiff was sued by law firm 1 for fees. He…
Legal Malpractice and Small Claims Court
Legal malpractice litigation is a complicated matter, with the need to prove hypothetical outcomes, requirements for experts, and proofs that things would have come out differently. It is not for the faint of heart. Pro-se litigants do poorly here.
In Kovitz v Wenig, Ginsberg, Saltiel & Greene, LLP ; 2011 NY Slip Op 50768(U)…
The Statute of Limitations and Sending the File Back
One of the crucial questions to be asked in legal malpractice litigation is when did the representation end. This question comes only shortly after the question of when did the negligent event take place. The statute of limitations is three years from the negligent event or the last date that the attorneys represented the client…
Missing Jewels and Legal Malpractice
Manus v Flamm , 2011 NY Slip Op 31691(U); June 14, 2011; Supreme Court, New York County; Docket Number: 110026/2007; Judge: Debra A. James tells an interesting story of divorce, legal malpractice and itinerant jewelery. Plaintiff is the divorced wife, who is owed $ 1 million in the divorce. She borrows jewelery from the husband’s…