Here is a case in which plaintiff was injured in a construction accident, and lost the case when it was discovered that the wrong parties were sued. He turns to legal malpractice case, and avoids summary judgment in this decision.Hershorn v Grae, Rybicki & Partners, P.C. ,2007 NY Slip Op 06458 ,Decided on August
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.
How Far Can You Go with a Witness?
Cleary Gottlieb may have gone too far, reports Anthony Lin at the NYLJ when it spoke with a potential deposition witness. Did they represent the Congo too strongly?
"Manhattan federal judge has sanctioned Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton for improperly trying to dissuade a witness from testifying about his dealings with the Republic of Congo…
Do Legal Malpractice Defendants Get a Secret Boost?
We have always thought that legal malpractice cases, with the "case within a case" format were a wee bit more difficult than other litigation. We had not factored in a "secret bias" aspect.
Federal Judge Dennis Jacobs thinks a little bit differently:
"Dennis G. Jacobs, the chief judge of the federal appeals court in New…
Attorney Fee Disputes Starts Small, Ends Big
Attorney A hires Attorney B to help in a big antitrust law case, and promises 10% of the fee will go to Attorney B. When Attorney A is paid, he refused to send 10% to attorney B. From there, it all goes bad, and after 10 years, Attorney A has to pay not $ 23,000…
Indian Casino, Its Sponsor and Legal Malpractice
A Federally recognized Indian Tribe Casino right next to Disneyland in California? How is it possible that in the middle of Orange County there can be an unknown, unrecognized yet legitimate Indian Tribe, which might have the right to a Casino?
We don’t know, but the players and participants are already involved in legal malpractice cases.
" GARDEN…
Airplane Crash Legal Malpractice Case Nets $ 5.5 Million
Yesterday we reported on a legal malpractice case in which the attorney "helped" the client to get insurance payments, but did not bring a personal injury action against the pilot or the owner of the private plane which crashed into plaintiff’s house.
Today the Poppe Law Firm Blog reports that "In one of the largest…
Try to Make Sense of this Alabama Case of Legal Malpractice
A judge is hired to write a will for a disabled man, and it all ends up with the Judge being sued and then having to give back $ 1.2 million in fees and 600 acres of land. It’s the middle part we cant figure out.
"A Washington County judge has been ordered to repay…
Suing the Opponent’s Attorney in Legal Malpractice
Law.Com reports on Positive Software Solutions, et al. v. Susman Godfrey, et al. filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Dallas, Positive Software and its Chief Executive Officer Edward Mandel allege that the defendants — Susman Godfrey; firm partners Barry C. Barnett and Ophelia F. Camina of Dallas;…
Plane Crashes into Your Home, Attorney Misfiles Your Case
This Kentucky woman was sitting home, minding her own business when a plane crashed into the house. She hired an attorney.
"An English teacher at Pineville High School, Osborne was devastated by the crash, which destroyed her home and belongings. Her blood pressure skyrocketed and her diabetes flared, according to her doctor, and each time…
Supersize that Legal Malpractice?
Supersize it! Not a Wendy’s advertising pitch. but this legal malpractice case took place in one. This case is being cited for Federal jurisdiction and removal [not areas we cover often], but for us, the issue will be whether employees have standing and privity to sue attorneys hired by their employer. We think not, and…