This is taken from the Law.Com subscription site. "The statisticians and insurers are constantly whining and warning about the increase in legal malpractice cases, attorney Claude E. Ducloux writes. Even the most respected firms are being caught up in the malpractice web, as changes in laws and attitudes have emboldened clients to complain publicly, loudly
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.
A Short Primer on the Retaining Lien
The case in subscription form
"Matter of Gonzalez v. Thelen Reid & Priest LLP, 114877-2006
Decided: February 9, 2007
Justice Carol Robinson Edmead
NEW YORK COUNTY
Supreme Court
"There are two separate and distinct classes of liens available to attorneys at law: (1) a general common-law or retaining lien on all property, including papers, books…
Surrogate Recuses. Will this be a Legal Malpractice Issue?
Anthony Lin in the NYLJ reports today that a Surrogate has recused himself over whether an attorney appearing before him made significant campaign contributions, This appears to be happening more often, and when tied in with Clarence Norman style issues [insider attorneys, connections between judges and election payments] may well become a legal malpractice issue…
New Jersey, Legal Malpractice and Loss of Coverage
Here is a [subscription only] blurb from the NJLJ, which mirrors NY. Fail to advise the carrier of a potential claim, and you may not have coverage. "An applicant for legal malpractice insurance who fails to disclose known facts that could lead to a malpractice claim, even if no claim has been filed, may be…
It’s Not Legal Malpractice, but…
For a new and interesting take on criminal law, look at Simple Justice. This is a new blog on Criminal law by an extremely experienced practitioner, Scott Greenfield.
How to Avoid Legal Malpractice Law Suits
Here is a short but interesting list of things to do to avoid lawsuits.
"Eight steps to safeguard your business
Professional contract agreements.
Documentation and tracking changes.
Checking work.
Communications with the client.
Early recognition of potential disputes.
Early recognition of potential disputes.
Meeting budgets
Costs.
Time.
Fees and charges
One Take on Mandatory Legal Malpractice Insurance
Susan Cartier-Liebel’s Solo Law Blog puts this argument forward: mandatory legal malpractice insurance is unnecessary, because it would not benefit clients, only subject attorneys to sky-high premiums.
She writes: "Huh? What I can tell you is this: forcing lawyers to purchase malpractice insurance for this purpose would itself be a crime. It’s called extortion……
And…
Return of Attorney Fees in Criminal Defense Legal Malpractice
Hinshaw reports this case:
Client may not recover fees paid to criminal defense attorney whose representation was ineffective in part
"The Vermont Supreme Court has held that a client is not entitled to assert a breach of contract action against a criminal defense attorney to recover fees paid for ineffective representation where at least some…
Assignments and 3d Party Legal Malpractice Liability
From the South Carolina Appellate Blog:
Friday, February 23, 2007
South Carolina Court of Appeals holds that attorney owes a duty to third parties to distribute settlement proceeds
In Moore v. Weinberg, after the settlement of litigation and receipt of proceeds, attorney distributed all the money and in the process overlooked an Assignment, which he…
Boston Firm and $ 59 Million Malpractice Case
Web CPAblog reports:
"Boston Firm Faces Malpractice Suit
Boston (Feb. 23, 2007) – Vitale Caturano & Co. is facing a malpractice lawsuit for allegedly failing to properly investigate a number of red flags that could have tipped a prominent New England family off to the looting of some $57 million from its trust funds.