On first blush this decision is a tad confusing. Legal malpractice plaintiff sues his former defense attorney who defended him in a cross-over head-on car crash. Plaintiff in legal malpractice case had driven the cross-over car, and had no memory of the accident. After he loses the car crash case on summary judgment, and then
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 Very Rare Legal Malpractice – Defamation Insurance Case
Here is a rare case in which attorney represents farm owners on a wrongful death case, which does not settle within policy limits. Instead of settling for $ 300,000 there is a verdict of $ 4.2 million. Afterwards, everything turns upside down. The farmer’s insurance company approached the attorney’s legal malpractice carrier and from there…
Its not the American Rule, its the New Jersey Rule in Legal Malpractice
In the law, "attorney’s fees are awarded…" carry awesome power. Traditionally, the American rule is that each side bears its own attorney fees unless there is an agreement or a statute which grants attorney fees to the prevailing party. Attorney fees are awarded in L & T litigation, based upon the usual rental lease; in discrimination cases by…
Has the Economy Changed the Legal Malpractice Climate?
Anecdotally, we see major economic changes in the US. It changed the course of the Presidential elections, and it has changed the climate in legal malpractice. Viewed through the lens of daily layoffs of attorneys, daily firing of staff, and realignments of law firms, this story from the American Bar Association underlines the trend.
"Attorney…
20 Years and Counting in Legal Malpractice
This intriguing story from New Jersey has several unique aspects to it. The first is an idea alien to New York litigation and legal malpractice. This attorney was still in practice, and still representing buyers and sellers of the same residential property in the same neighborhood twenty years after the first transaction. More unique is that…
New Trial in Tae Bo Legal Malpractice Case
The National Law Journal reports that an Appellate Court has reversed and remanded a $30 million legal malpractice case against the law firm Seyfarth Shaw based upon issues of jury instructions. "Blanks filed a legal malpractice lawsuit against Seyfarth Shaw and Lancaster, alleging that the attorney’s failure to file the action on time before the labor…
Will the Economy Affect Legal Malpractice Cases?
From the National Law Journal:
Legal Malpractice Cases May Surge as Economy Tanks
New York Lawyer
February 23, 2009
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By Karen Sloan
The National Law Journal
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With the economy tanking, experts say the stage is set for a surge in legal malpractice…
Phen Fen Legal Malpractice Case again Dismissed
In Barber v. Siller Wilk we seen an interesting anomaly of legal malpractice, which is the recurring lawsuit against the target attorney, which is lost, and then against the attorney who sued the target attorney, then…. reminiscent of the reducio ad adsurdum metaphysical argument one learns in philosophy. In this case, plaintiff successfully sued…
Legal Malpractice in a Labor Law Setting
The Labor Law and its connection with union contracts, employment at will and whistle blower statutes is complicated. Clients are well advised to go to an attorney who concentrates in this area. Here is a case in which plaintiff’s case went awry, and ended in legal malpractice.
Hayes v Bello 2009 NY Slip Op 29065 Decided…
Reasonable Trial Strategy in Legal Malpractice
An attorney is free to utilize a reasonable trial strategy for its client without a risk of legal malpractice. So goes the "judgment" principal in legal malpractice. What constitutes a reasonable trial strategy?
As an example, Noone v Stieglitz ;2009 NY Slip Op 01093 ;Decided on February 10, 2009 ; Appellate Division, Second Department …