Bad faith litigation is usually a situation where the case could be settled within the policy limits, but that chance is lost and the verdict exceeds the policy limits. Here is the inverse. The carrier settles a case within the policy limits but the insured [in this case a doctor] did not want to settle
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.
Legal Malpractice? This Is Even Worse!
Its bad enough when an attorney makes mistakes which cost the client. Here, its not even an attorney! The NY TImes Story:
"A Long Island man who worked as a lawyer at a major New York law firm for four years — even though, prosecutors said, he had never gone to law school &mdash…
Better Advise Client of Unsettled Law or Face Legal Malpractice
This report from Hinshaw discusses a Georgia case in which an attorney did not file a verification in an anti-SLAPP suit. It was a mistake, but the question of whether he had to file a verification was "unsettled." So far, [summary judgment denied], the client’s legal malpractice case remains viable. Moral ? Advise the client…
Huge Change for Trial Lawyers
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General Obligation Law Sec. 15-108 has long been a trap and a well known trap at that. Settle with one defendant, and the rest of them get to try their case against an empty seat, and get the greater of the settlement amount or the equitable share of the settling defendant.
Legal Malpractice mistakes but no Damages
Proving mistakes by an attorney is really the least difficult aspect of litigating a legal malpractice case. Technical aspects of the action, such as timelyness, pleading, proximate cause, and privity often overshadow a simple analysis of mistakes.
Here is a case from Michigan in which the attorney filed a divorce action in the wrong county!…
Does Sleep Deprivation = Legal Malpractice?
Often, a losing criminal defense attorney will. because they are usually really sympathetic guys, go to bat for a client by allowing the client to ‘give them up." This usually comes up at an ineffective counsel application by the defendant. Here is a prime example:
"A defense attorney tried a different argument for why his…
Retaining and Charging Liens, Judiciary Law 475 and Division of Fees
Attorney 1 started a trip and fall case against City and Contractor A. After two years he was substituted out, and Attorney 2 started a new action against Contractor B. The two actions were consolidated and eventually Contractor A won the case. Contractor B paid $ 100,000 and the City paid $ 50,000.
Is Attorney…
Interest on Legal Fees? Yes, but…
Attorney Harry H. Kutner, Jr. had fees overdue and he was waiting for the client to pay. Sound familiar? Today’s NYLJ , written by Daniel Wise reports:
"The retainer agreement, drafted by Mr. Kutner, gave Mr. Antonacci 15 days from the time a bill was sent out to make payment without being assessed interest.
In…
NJ Estate v. Beneficiary Legal Malpractice Case
When an attorney represents a soon-to-be testator, and there are problems after death, several principles of legal malpractice law arise: privity, statute of limitations, proximate cause. Here is a NJ case which discusses several of the issues and gives a well written account of how the principles play out.
Plaintiff is a surviving child, and…
Anna Nicole Smith, NBC and Legal Malpractice
The winner of the Anna Nicole Smith lottery, who won in part because of his attorney, is now suing her to avoid a $ 600,000 legal bill. Details.
"Anna Nicole Smith’s ex-boyfriend filed a lawsuit Friday against the celebrity attorney who helped him prove he is the father of Smith’s baby daughter.
Larry Birkhead’s lawsuit…