Hinshaw reports a fairly complicated commercial liquidated damages case arising from a bank loan to individuals which led to a default, which led to a confession of judgment, which led to a settlement, with inadequate documentation of the settlement. At least one judgment was not marked "satisfied." After trips up and down to the Appellate Courts
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.
Clients Lose Settlement and Legal Malpractice Case
Clients claim that attorney forged their names on settlement documents, then stole money. They sue attorney, get judgment, and then lost any ability to collect, when carrier successfully disclaims and wins a collection case brought by the cleints against the carrier. Wiley Rein, LLP reports:
The Supreme Court of Nebraska has held that misappropriation and…
Not All Trials go to a Jury, Even in Legal Malpractice
One of the more ironic but interesting aspects of legal malpractice, like quantum mechanics, is that the very act of measurement [trial] can cause the observed object to change. Similarly, in the prosecution of a legal malpractice case, there can be legal malpractice . Here, from the Madison Record there is the potential for a further…
Duane Morris Legal Malpractice Case Decided
A commonly quoted statistic is that 95% of all cases are resolved prior to trial; they are resolved through motions to dismiss, motions for summary judgment and settlements. The few cases that go on to trial generally, they calculate, go 50/50. Here is a highly reported, big $ legal malpractice case which went to trial…
Federal Question Jurisdiction in Legal Malpractice
Legal malpractice is a wholly state cause of action, and might be brought in Federal District Court only if there is a basis for jurisdiction. Diversity jurisdiction is the one most quickly thought of, but in certain circumstances federal question jurisdiction may also apply. Questions of legal malpractice in a patent representation is one such…
Court Will not Allow Attorney to Quit
In Scher v. Mishkit [NYLJ exerpt], Supreme Court, Suffolk County refused to allow this attorney to wifhdraw pursuant to CPLR 321. This situation is more common than one might guess, especially in medical malpractice cases. The case is brought, and prosecuted, with depositions, and medical record exchanges, and then placed on the calendar, without…
Failure to Pay Legal Malpractice Judgment Leads to Attorney Suspension
It is an ethical violation of 22 NYCRR 603.4[e][1][iv] willfully to fail to satisfy a judgment arising out of one’s professional activities. For the most part, these judgments arise from legal malpractice. Here an attorney is suspended because of an unsatisfied judgment:
"Respondent’s failure to cooperate with the Committee’s investigation (22 NYCRR 603.4[e][1][i]) and her…
Judicial Hellhole and Legal Malpractice
So far the central question in this legal malpractice case is whether it is taking place in a judicial hellhole, and incidently, who gets to make that decision.
This is a legal malpractice case taking place in Madison County, Illinois. Here is the story from the Madison St. Claire Record:
"Relics of Madison County’s…
Indiana Excess Insurer Malpractice Case
Indiana Legal Blog reports on the Transcontinental legal malpractice case. We reported on it earlier, but there seems to be a new twist:
"On appeal, the Indiana Court of Appeals did not accept the excess insurer’s argument that they should be allowed to bring a legal malpractice claim against the client’s attorneys under the…
Arbitration in Legal Malpractice
Here is a commentary from Larry Upshaw on the pro/con arguments for a law firm putting an arbitration clause in the retainer agreement. From plaintiff’s prospective, it can be a costly problem. Take a commercial legal malpractice in which there are potential $ 1 million damages.
A trial can be had for the cost…