BAKER, -v.- CHARLES SIMPSON, WINDELS MARX LANE & MITTENDORF, LLP is the story of a Chapter 7 petitioner whose case was converted into a Chapter 11 proceeding. He had counsel appointed, who then represented him until the end of the proceedings. The proceedings ended badly, with plaintiff Baker alleging "that: (1) On the advice of
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.
Lawyer’s Fund and Legal Malpractice
Cases in which attorneys steal money rather than lose money [or commit blunders which lose otherwise meritorious cases] are in the jurisdiction of the New York Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection. This fund fills an important role, and covers areas which will not be susceptible to a legal malpractice case. Malpractice Insurance carriers will not…
The Rare Defense Legal Malpractice Case
Attorneys for insurance carriers are rarely the subject of a legal malpractice case…it is much more often plaintiff’s attorney. The Poppe law firm blog reports this case of a car insurance defense attorney who goes to trial on the underlying auto accident without ever meeting with the client, and to make matters worse, admits liability…
Attorneys, Billing and Clients
The rules for attorney billing are different from those of any other profession. While the general principals are the same, attorneys are required to utilize retainer agreements, or a similar document, while this is not true for accountants, dentists, etc. There are consequences for the failure to use a retainer agreement, but Courts, especially the…
Why is this a NY Legal Malpractice Case?
Patriot Exploration, LLC v Thompson & Knight LLP ; 2010 NY Slip Op 06217 ; Decided on July 27, 2010 ; appellate Division, First Department presents a discussion of forum non conveniens
as well as the question of why this is a NY case? Defendants wanted the case to be moved to Texas, notwithstanding the…
It’s Legal Malpractice Thrown in at the End
Nelson v. Patterson, 2010 NY Slip Op 31799 [Justice Mdden in NY County Supreme Court] is a case about loans, employment contracts, fraud and, oh yes, legal malpractice. After a discussion of breached employment contracts and the like, the court grants plaintiff’s request to add a cause of action for quantum meruit. "In general the existence…
Starting Point of the Statute of Limitations Can Be Confusing
When does the statute of limitations start to run in legal malpractice? Is it on the day that former attorneys are "substituted out" or perhaps on the day that successor counsel sign a retainer agreement? One answer is found in Fur Online v. Rivkin Radler, LLP, Supreme Court, New York County, Index No. 113292/08. …
When Does the Statute of Limitations Start in Legal Malpractice?
Frederick v Meighan ; 2010 NY Slip Op 06076 ;Decided on July 13, 2010 ;Appellate Division, Second Department is a case in which Supreme Court dismissed, sua sponte on the basis of statute of limitations, the Appellate Division reversed.
When does the statute of limitations start to run in legal malpractice? The easy answer is…
Financial Downturn and Fraud Coupled with Legal Malpractice
The question of whether legal malpractice litigation is tied to [and affected by] downturns in the financial and economic worlds is often asked. Our answer is that legal malpractice litigation is apt to come up in every situation where attorneys are present.
The Drier episode, punctuated by fraud, crimes and large money numbers is a…
Legal Malpractice Claims Reinstated Against Boies Schiller
Yesterday, the Appellate Division, First Department, reversed Supreme Court and reinstated the negligence causes of action on behalf of Mary Anne Fletcher against Boies Schiller in Fletcher v Boies, Schiller & Flexner, LLP; 2010 NY Slip Op 06140 ;Decided on July 20, 2010 .
From the Decision: "Plaintiff, a fashion model, pleaded that…