A bill just passed out of committee in the NY State Senate, sponsored by the Court System [OCA] would amend CPLR 2001 to permit courts to forgive errors in the starting of law suits. One example is a well-known mistake of purchasing an index number for a motion seeking leave to file a late notice
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.
Indemnification, but No Loss of Privilege
At first blush, one assumes a loss of attorney-client privilege in legal malpractice, or in this case, an indeminfication case for legal costs. The sued party would like to explore how the case was settled, whether settlement was reasonable, and why they should have to pay a settlement in which they did not participated. Part…
Is this Law firm a Debt Collector?
A Rochester Law firm sent a letter to a Connecticut artist, and ended up in SDNY over the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Right now, the case stays in the SDNY and will not be moved to Western District, wherein Rochester lies.
"PLAINTIFF CONNECTICUT resident’s lawsuit alleged that defendant Rochester, New York-based law firm was…
Attorney’s Duty to Insurer and Re-Insurer
Hinshaw reports:
"California Court Finds No Duty Owed to Reinsurer by Defense Attorney Who Was Hired by the Primary Carrier
May 15, 2007
Zenith Insurance Company v. Cozen O’Connor, ___Cal.Rptr.3d___, 2007 WL 841119 (Cal.App. 2 Dist. 2007)
Brief Summary
The California Court of Appeal for the Second District affirmed the dismissal of a legal malpractice…
Bad at a Deposition, He’s told to leave Dodge City by Nightfall
All right, the attorney did not "bark like a dog". His behavior was bad enough for the judge to boot him out of West Virginia [or revoke his admissions pro haec vice] Here is the story.:
"WINFIELD – Putnam Circuit Judge Ed Eagloski chased a Texas lawyer back to the Lone Star State…
Simultaneous Representation of Plaintiff and Defendant a No-No
Here, law firm disqualified because it represented plaintiff and defendant at the same time in different cases. Lawfirm’s response, No, its OK!!
"HRH Construction LLC v. Palazzo, 600857/06
Decided: May 4, 2007
Moreover, although multiple representation may be permissible where, after full disclosure of the risks of such representation, the attorney has obtained the consent…
NJ Legal Malpractice, “Net” Opinions of Expert
This is a sad case of willful ignorance, passive-aggressive client behavior, and a refusal to acknowledge reality. Its a car accident turned legal malpractice case. Unusually, it is the defendant – client who is suing his insurance defense attorneys.
Driver had a 15/30 policy [as small as possible] and really injured the other driver. Insurance compnay…
Victory or Defeat?
This is a car case in which verdict was $ 25,000 for loss of income, $ 20,000 for past pain and suffering and $ 0 for future pain and suffering. Smelling a problem, plaintniff’s attorney asked the court to interview jurors. One of them was a physical therapist, and plaintiff wanted to show that the…
It’s not Legal Malpractice, but…
From this weeks advance sheets:
"Although plaintiff denominated the motion denied by the May 2006 order as one to vacate a default, the dismissal order was not rendered on default within the meaning of CPLR 5015(a)(1), since plaintiff had appeared in opposition to the motions and cross motions to dismiss. Given that plaintiff’s motion to…
Attorney with No Authority can Bind Settlement
"Settlement" was binding after attorney agreed to settle case in court, with City of NY. The evidence? Not a transcript, not the client in open court; it was a marking on the "court card" of "settled" made by the clerk.
This is an expansion of the "settlement in open court" doctrine, which holds that there…