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.
As in all settings, attorney or legal malpractice can be a defense to a fee claim by that attorney. In Matter of Hart, 2022 NY Slip Op 22018, Decided on January 12, 2022, Surrogate’s Court, Rockland County, Judge Cornell sets forth some of the rules.
“SCPA § 2110 authorizes the Court to fix and determine…
Protostorm, Inc. v Foley & Lardner LLP, 2022 NY Slip Op 01107, Decided on February 17, 2022, Appellate Division, First Department is a short decision concerning a small act with big consequences. Waiver of “joint and several liability” may have taken place in the pleading or during the litigation. In either case, it seems…
An claim unstated in the pleadings, but which surfaces in discovery may be utilized by Plaintiff. In Leading Ins. Group Ins. Co., Ltd. (U.S. Branch), Inc. v Friedman LLP 2021 NY Slip Op 03411 [195 AD3d 418] June 1, 2021
Appellate Division, First Department a unique theory of damages was considered, and then rejected.
“Defendant…
For those who believe that oral argument really means nothing, and that the decision is already written, Halwani v Boris Kogan & Assoc., P.C. 2021 NY Slip Op 06039 [199 AD3d 413] November 4, 2021
Appellate Division, First Department may be something of a look behind the curtain. Apparently the appeal was lost at oral…
With apologies for the title, Deane v Brodman 2021 NY Slip Op 01842 [192 AD3d 577] March 25, 2021Appellate Division, First Department was dismissed for failure to show a departure.
“Defendants are entitled to summary judgment dismissing the professional negligence claims asserted against them as plaintiff has not offered evidence of a departure from a…
As often happens, Courts and Appellate Courts determine that a claim of deceit often find the claims “conclusory” and dismiss. Palmieri v Perry, Van Etten, Rozanski & Primavera, LLP 2021 NY Slip Op 06852 [200 AD3d 785] December 8, 2021 Appellate Division, Second Department is one such case.
“In a prior lawsuit, the plaintiff sought…
The statute of limitations for legal malpractice is three years. There is a whole bible of case law on when the S/L commences (at the mistake) and how it might be tolled (continuous representation). Strategic practitioners generally wait for expiration of the three year period before bringing fee claims (subject to a 6 year statute). …
Attorneys who defend doctors in Office of Professional Medical Conduct proceedings work in a complex rule-driven atmosphere. Frequently negative outcomes lead to legal malpractice cases. In Manouel v Dembin 2022 NY Slip Op 00725 Decided on February 03, 2022
Appellate Division, First Department the case ended with summary judgment.
“Plaintiff fails to articulate any persuasive…
Postiglione v Sacks & Sacks, LLP 2022 NY Slip Op 30148(U) January 19, 2022 Supreme Court, Kings County Docket Number: Index No. 513779/19 Judge: Karen B. Rothenberg is an interesting case, both for its complexity as well as for the level of scrutiny given by the Court in these two CPLR 3211 pleading sufficiency motions. …
Davis v Farrell Fritz, P.C. 2022 NY Slip Op 00399 Decided on January 26, 2022 Appellate Division, Second Department deals with fraud in very big numbers. Dismissal under CPLR 3211 was reversed. Here are the facts for the second set of attorneys:
“In 2009, the plaintiffs’ decedent, Charles Robert Allen III (hereinafter Allen) through his…
