This is not [yet] a report on a legal malpractice case, but an interesting one nevertheless. U.S. District Court reduced attorney fees, and made a finding that the performance by the attornew was “dismal.” Details here.
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.
Contempt in a Legal Malpractice Case
The Metropolitan News-Enterprise online of Los Angeles reports that an attorney in contempt for comments raised in a legal malpractice case. Details here.
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Legal Malpractice Cases this Week 11-29-05
Tropp v. Lumer, 2004-11025 ,
SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, SECOND DEPARTMENT , 2005 NY Slip Op 8972;
Plaintiff wins summary judgment motion on continuous representation by showing that defendant attorney was “watching over” the case he referred, and that he participated by at least preparing plaintiff for the EBT.
Merlin Biomed …
Reinsurers, Legal Malpractice and Subrogation
Another permutation on legal malpractice and privity. May an insurer or re-insurer be subrogated to a legal malpractice action against an attorney defending an underlying action where no settlement was made within policy limits? Details here
“Big Defense Wins” in Legal Malpractice
As reported in Verdict Search here are a list of nationwide “big defense wins” in Legal Malpractice.
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Nebraska Privity rules in Legal Malpractice
Here is a law review note on privity requirements in legal malpractice in Nebraska from the Nebraska Law Review 369 [2005] commenting on Swanson v. Ptak, 268 Neb. 265, 682 N.W.2d 225 [2004].
Client loses case, Sues Attorney, has proceeds taken
This poor client was the victim of legal malpractice, and hired an attorney to prosecute the legal malpractice case. The attorney succeeded, then took the proceeds. Now the attorney is disciplined. The article tells us nothing about the poor client however. Details here.
St. Johns wins Loyala University Moot Court
Reported here on 10/14/05, Loyala University Law School held a moot court based upon a legal malpractice case arising from a wrongful criminal conviction.
St. Johns University Law School won, with the University of Akron School of Law, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, South Texas College of Law in contention for the championship at…
Legal Malpractice, the Cordillera and Vail Valley
A lawsuit between the developer of Cordillera resort in Vail Valley, Co and its corporate counsel is brewing in Colarodo District Cour alleges contract breach on the one part and legal malpractice on the other. Details here.
Legal Malpractice in Literature
Google book search opens up a brand new world in the legal malpractice field. Performing a google book search under “legal malpractice” brings up more than 700 references. One, reproduced here tells us to expect an avalanche or tsunami of suits in the near future. The balance of the list are text books and diverse…