“Attorneys Rendering Incorrect Advice on Statute of Limitations Subject to Malpractice Liability Despite Viability of Underlying Action at the Time of Withdrawal” is a new report by Hinshaw & Culbertson. Their e-mailed article describes an Illinois case. This was a twisted series of attorney-client meetings and advice that the statute was 2 years rathern
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, Disclosure, Privilege and the “at Issue” Doctrine
I was leafing through a dog-eared advance sheets and came across this well written Supreme Court case authored by Justice Rolando T. Acosta, which discusses the breadth of discovery permitted by defendant attorneys of successor attorneys once a legal malpractice action is started.
Continue Reading Legal Malpractice, Disclosure, Privilege and the “at Issue” Doctrine
Did Video kill the Legal Star?
I couldn’t ignore this story of a Phillipines TV star attorney disciplined after a legal malpractice case against him. Details.
Hewlett Packard Technology Award
The New York Attorney Malpractice Blog and Andrew Lavoott Bluestone has been awarded First Place in the Hewlett Packard Law Technology contest for its innovation over this past year.
The award is for the use of digital technology at the Bluestone Law Firm and in the Blog. The New York Attorney Blog uses LexBlog to…
How widespread is Legal Malpractice?
The Miami Business Reporter, a West publication reports it’s becoming more and more widespread. Detalis, with subscriptiont required.
Bankruptcy and Legal Malpractice Cases
Paul J. Israelson writes in todays NYLJ about a pitfall, which while well settled and recognized, is often overlooked. If plaintiff files for bankruptcy, in any chapter, between the date of the malpractice and the inception of the legal malpractice case, the cause of action really belongs to the bankruptcy estate, which is controlled by…
Sauer Verdict and Legal Malpractice
Lexis reports that:
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Law Firm Wins Judgment In Legal Malpractice Action Over Sauer Verdict
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A federal judge has found that a law firm representing a defendant in the record-setting Advocat Inc. v. Sauer verdict is not liable in a legal malpractice action seeking $10 million in damages…
Mayor Gionfriddo and the many Legal Malpractice Suits
Mayor Gionfriddo of Middletown CT is reportedly the subject of a plethora of lawsuits, both legal malpractice and other. This Middletown CT article lays out the sad story.
Guardians and Legal Malpractice
It’s an interesting variant on the question of privity, but this Maryland case allows a guardian ad litem to be sued for legal malpractice, even though there was no attorney-client relationship in the usual terms. Details.
Advertising and Legal Malpractice
Although not entirely on the point of legal malpractice, here is a blog entry about Legal advertisin and legal malpractice by Allison C. Shields in her Legal Ease blog.. Here, plaintiff sued attorney for early and insufficient settlement, alleging that attorney advertised its quality and high settlements, along with legal malpractice.