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.
Shaw, Licitra, Gulotta, Esernio & Schwartz PC v. Hahn, 039977/06
Decided: March 20, 2007
Judge Andrew M. Engel
NASSAU COUNTY
District Court
Judge Engel
The Defendant moves for an order dismissing the Complaint herein, pursuant to CPLR §3211(u)(4), imposing sanctions upon the Plaintiff, pursuant to DR 7-102, DR 7-104, 22 N.Y.C.R.R. §130-1, and 22 N.Y.C.R.R.
Highly respected attorney Thomas Hyland, of Wilson Elser, writes in the NYLJ, in part:
"We write in response to your article, "Judge Orders Firm to Disgorge Fees Over Ethics Breach," (NYLJ, April 5, page 1) which discusses Justice Marcy S. Friedman’s decision in Ulico v. Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker, granting partial summary judgment…
The NYLJ reports "An attorney who violates the state’s official Codes, Rules and Regulations (NYCRR) by failing to obtain a written retainer agreement or letter of engagement from a client in a nonmatrimonial case can still recover fees, an appeals court held last week in a ruling of first impression.
An unanimous panel of the…
From Law.com
"Beginning in the fall of 2004, partners in Dallas-based Jenkens & Gilchrist who left the firm also left behind their capital contributions, which in some cases totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars, due to the firm’s "contingent liabilities. The former Jenkens partners who left their cash behind may never see a penny…
Medical malpractice trial lost with $217 Million verdict, which could have been settled within policy limits for $ 4 million leads to a legal malpractice by doctor versus attorney. This article tells us:
"Among the claims against their former lawyers was the fact their lawyers turned down settlement offers of $1,000,000.00 for one doctor and…
This article from the venerable Madison County Record reports that the Lakin Law Firm, which is a defendant in a big legal malpractice case arising from structured settlement loses, may now face loss of coverage.
"Lakin Law Firm founder Tom Lakin has sworn in a civil suit that he saw no liability on his part…
The Appellate Division has ruled that plaintiff bank has lost its attorney-client privilege with subsequent attorneys over the securities gone bad legal malpractice case against Chadbourne & Parke.
"Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Barbara R. Kapnick, J.), entered November 23, 2005, which, to the extent appealed from as limited by the briefs, declared that…
Justice March Friedman ruled last week that Wilson Elser must disgorge $ 3 Million + fees based upon a breach of fiduciary duty, and faces $100 in legal malpractice damages as the case progresses. The story goes on:
"Insurance defense giant Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker has been ordered to disgorge millions of dollars…
Plaintiff attorney sued defendant client for legal fees and client counterclaimed for legal malpractice. At trial plaintiff attorney lost and client won a verdict of $ 31,000 for legal malpractice. The AD1 found that neither the fee case nor the malpractice case were proven. The malpractice case failed because although a conflict of interest was demonstrated,…
This article is about medical malpractice, but it applies to legal malpractice. Examples? When is a tax legal malpratice case complete? is it on the day of the mistake, on the day of the filing, on the last date which a return may be filed, or when the IRS determines there was a mistake?
"Duty…
