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.
“Words and actions” can create a retention agreement even if there is no adequate writing. This is one of the holdings in Fricano v Law Offs. of Tisha Adams, LLC 2021 NY Slip Op 03306 Decided on May 26, 2021
Appellate Division, Second Department.
“Here, the defendants failed to eliminate triable issues of fact as…
In this short decision, the Appellate Division recited the basic mantra of legal malpractice, but chose not to explain where Plaintiff failed. Little guidance to bar or counsel is offered in Muller v Schecter 2021 NY Slip Op 03326 Decided on May 26, 2021 Appellate Division, Second Department.
“”In an action to recover damages for…
Plaintiff sues attorney for settling a motor vehicle case for $ 1500. Case runs into trouble for two reasons. First, there has already been a determination that Plaintiff authorized the settlement through his attorney. Second, while Plaintiff says he needs a Turkish translator, he repeatedly answered the questions in English.
The court dismissed all claims…
Legal malpractice cases in real estate transactions sometimes are about multi-million dollar losses, sometimes about smaller deals gone bad. FTF Lending, LLC v Mavirides Moyal Packman & Sadkin, LLP 2021 NY Slip Op 31502(U) May 4, 2021 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 153620/2020 Judge: Margaret A. Chan is about a smaller deal.
“On…
As in a blog from this week, New Canaan Capital Mgt., LLC v Chadbourne & Parke LLP 2021 NY Slip Op 02758 Decided on May 04, 2021 Appellate Division, First Department is a case with a past. it is dismissed on the basis of collateral estoppel and the statute of limitations.
“The complaint is barred…
When cases are dismissed, they are dismissed with or without prejudice. This term means whether the matter can be brought again. If dismissed without prejudice, then the plaintiff is permitted to recommence the action. Traditionally, dismissals at the beginning of the case are based upon the pleadings. Some of the dismissals (as in CPLR 3211(a)(7))…
In this matrimonial action, Defendant attorneys were retained 8 months + after the Note of Issue. The custody trial started the day after retention and the financial trial thereafter. Plaintiff claims in Lijun Feng v Passonneau 2021 NY Slip Op 31507(U) April 29, 2021 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 156765/2020 Judge: Richard G.…
There is an old (very old) tension between doctors and attorneys that we believe stems from antediluvian times. Lawyers frequently prosecute claims against doctors and (reportedly) doctors loathe attorneys. Whether or not true, legal malpractice claims arising from cases involving the Office of Professional Medical Conduct (DOH) and doctor discipline often end up in a…
Not surprisingly, an unopposed motion to dismiss is often granted. The lack of opposition sometimes is because Plaintiff is pro-se, sometimes because of law office error. Here, in Melendez v Renfroe, Driscoll & Foster, LLP 2021 NY Slip Op 31462(U) April 29, 2021 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 157344/2019 Judge: W. Franc…
Plaintiff attorney loses fee case against pro-se client because he could not show substantial compliance with the matrimonial billing rules of 22 NYCRR 1400, et seq in Swergold v. Weinrib 2021 NY Slip Op 02555
Decided on April 28, 2021Appellate Division, Second Department.
“The plaintiff attorney represented the defendant in a matrimonial action, in which…
