Reported today in the NYLJ at P 18/Col 1, Justice Edmead in Supreme Court, New York County dismissed punitive damage claims in the matter of Fortnow v. Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP.. This case arose from the sale of an internet company, where the sellers lost their profits in the bursting bubble. Justice Edmead
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 and Winston & Strawn
A backpage Long Island article in the NYLJ by Andrew Harris relates that in the matter of Town of North Hempstead v. Winston & Strawn Justice Bucaria stripped the law firm of most of its defenses in a $ 32 million dollar suit arising from a solid waste contract which soured. Only a “sophisticated client”…
Legal Malpractice Cases this Week 12-13-05
1. Smith v. Cohen, 7076 , SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT , 2005 NY Slip Op 9407; Decided, December 8, 2005, Entered. Plaintiff went to attorney A, who referred him to Attorney B for a personal injury case. Attorney A is dismissed, with no proof that he was retained by Plaintiff.…
Legal Malpractice Advice: Don’t Pick a Fight with Your Attorney on the Eve of Trial
Here’s an analysis of the recent Ron Perelman–Morgan Stanley law suit by the New York Times. The moral: its a bad idea to fire your attorney, and threaten a legal malpractice case on the eve of trial. Details
Lack of Privity dooms Legal Malpractice Case
Reported in the NYLJ today, [p.20, c.1]Reyes v. Leuzzi, Supreme Court, New York County. A decision by Justice Tolub dismissing a legal malpractice case on the basis that there was insufficient evidence that the attorney actually was retained by the plaintiff. Instead, the evidence indicated that the attorney accomodated the plaintiff by helping…
Attorneys as Experts in Legal Malpractice
May an attorney testify as an expert in a Legal Malpractice, or put another way, it is required that an attorney testify on behalf of plaintiff to make out a prima facie case? Here is a case which on appeal overturned the lower court, and which illustrates both sides of the question. Details from Blog…
Kentucky Judge and Legal Malpractice
A Kentucky judge has been asked to recuse himself in a Legal Malpractice case on the basis that it involves contributors to judicial election races. Details.
$ 30 Million Settlement in Legal Malpractice
The biggest settlement this site has seen rated only a small note in the NYLJ. Canadian law firm Torys is paying $30.25 Million Dollars to settle a legal malpractice case against it by former client Hollinger International Inc. revolving around Conrad Black and conflict of interest.
Other Law School winners in Legal Malpractice Moot Court
Apparently the same “framed prisioner” legal malpractice fact pattern was used in multiple Moot court competitions this year. Earlier we reported a St.John’s Law School win. Here is an article about Chase College of Lawwinning a regional duet.
$1.2 Million Legal Malpractice Gannett Case
Gannett Heirs succeeded, beyond their ad damnu requests with a $ 1.2 million dollar legal malpractice case against trust and estate lawyers Gunster Yoakely. As reported by the Florida Probate Litigation Blog this type of work is no place for amateurs. Details Gunster is facing a second phase of the case in which $…