Practitioners are supposed to know not only how to gain a client, but how to settle a case without causing collateral damage. One such trap, though well known, open and obvious, is the settlement of tort actions when plaintiff has been awarded Workers’ Compensation benefits. In short, before settling a tort action where plaintiff has
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.
A Trend Gathers Steam in Legal Malpractice
Change in the law is sometimes revolutionary, and more often incremental. A stunning example of incremental change is a trend in legal malpractice arising from matrimonial actions. Often, if not universal, matrimonial actions are settled in open court stipulations, set on the record. For some historical reason, in matrimonial "allocutions" as well as in criminal plea…
Matrimonial Legal Malpractice
Matrimonial legal malpractice is typically all about the money – and the money is usually about equitable distribution. Money, or having to give it to someone else drives people insane. in this case it apparently drove the husband to solicit the murder of his wife. Luckily, the plan fizzled, and ended in divorce and equitable…
How Does an Attorney Lose a Charging Lien?
Attorneys automatically obtain a charging lien by commencing an action. There are several ways to lose that lien. One is to be terminated "for cause" and another is to withdraw voluntarily. This is different from being "consented out" or by withdrawing with mutual consent. In Nassour v Lutheran Med. Ctr. ;2010 NY Slip Op…
Collateral Estoppel, The Underlying Case and Legal Malpractice
The decision is somewhat short on details, but points to the most unique part of legal malpractice litigation. When lawyers are sued for their professional acts, plaintiff must prove that "but for" the attorney’s acts there would have been a better or more favorable outcome. In Millennium Import, LLC v Reed Smith LLP ;2010…
Battling Narratives in Legal Malpractice Case
This story of a likely ponzi scheme in the investments field took place between family members. Plaintiff gave his in-law $ 295,000 to invest. When he became troubled by the lack of documentation, he demanded his money back. A transfer of $ 250,000 (he took a real loss) came to him. Trouble came with the…
Legal Malpractice Award: The Final Nail ?
We read this story about the largest firm in Florida going through some changes. As bad as having the First Named Partner being suspended from the practice of law, and the name of the firm changing to reflect that reality, this story from Law.Com is even worse:
"MIAMI – Adorno & Yoss, one of Florida’s…
Breach of Contract, Legal Malpractice and Prisoners
Prisoners are frequent consumers of legal services, yet lack many of the abilities to enforce, cajole, or otherwise make sure post-trial, post-plea or appellate work is performed, and performed on time. Many are the complaints that attorneys were paid, and the work was not done for years, if done at all. Compounding the problem for…
A 13 Year Saga in Legal Malpractice
Experience in listening to potential legal malpractice litigants tell their story reveals the darker side of many of society’s institutions: family, marriage, friendship. This case,Benedict v Whitman Breed Abbott & Morgan ;2010 NY Slip Op 07704 ;Decided on October 26, 2010 ;Appellate Division, Second Department arises from a "family matriarch" who refused to…
Attorney-Client Privilege in Legal Malpractice
Attorneys are hired and fired, and new attorneys take over. Almost by definition, the new attorneys take on cases that have already been handled, either well or badly by predecessors. How does this affect later communications with the client, especially in a legal malpractice setting?