In professional negligence cases, as in a wide swath of litigation cases, a special relationship is necessary before an entity (real estate agent, non-attorney, non-physician professional, municipality) might be liable for shortcomings. So it is with insurance agents in STB Invs. Corp. v Sterling & Sterling, Inc. 2019 NY Slip Op 08606 Decided on December
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.
Mistakes and Miscalendaring Even In Legal Malpractice Litigation
OK…it happens. It happens a lot. Best if the mistake is caught early on. Cornwall Warehousing, Inc. v Lerner 2019 NY Slip Op 02825 [171 AD3d 540] April 16, 2019 Appellate Division, First Department.
“Plaintiffs demonstrated a reasonable excuse for their default (CPLR 5015 [a] [1]), based on law office failure, as detailed in the…
New York Law on Attorney-Client Privilege
In an extremely detailed analysis, the Second Department illustrates the difference between NY and Delaware attorney-privilege law in Askari v McDermott, Will & Emery, LLP 2019 NY Slip Op 08547 Decided on November 27, 2019 Appellate Division, Second Department
Austin, J., J.
“The attorney-client privilege is the oldest of the privileges for confidential communications known…
Default, Bankruptcy and Legal Malpractice Make For a Very Complicated Situation
Judge Billings untangles a complicated web of courts, causes and conclusions in Alphas v Smith 2019 NY Slip Op 33427(U) November 15, 2019 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 155790/2015. Questions of when the representation began, who has privity, what was the scope of the representation and did other attorneys cut off the liability…
The Basics of Legal Malpractice
We’re proud to announce that the New York Law Journal published out Outside Counsel column entitled “The Basics of Legal Malpractice” today.
We hope you enjoy. “The term “legal malpractice” is loosely used, not only by the public but by attorneys as well. Generically, it conveys something wrong, boneheaded or contrary to the way things…
Bitter, Acrimonious, but Not Deceitful
Judiciary Law § 487 is a favorite tool to use against attorneys. It is ancient and powerful. However, in Doscher v Meyer 2019 NY Slip Op 08171
Decided on November 13, 2019 Appellate Division, Second Department it was totally inapplicable.
“We agree with the Supreme Court’s determination granting those branches of the respective motions of…
A Short Tutorial in “Effectively Compelled To Settle”
May plaintiff sue the former attorney after settling the underlying case? It depends on whether plaintiff was effectively compelled to settle the underlying case or not. This differs from a situation where the underlying case is lost. How to tell whether the client was compelled or merely took the easy path? Glenwayne Dev. Corp v …
Estates, Legal Malpractice and Standing
Legal malpractice issues, and definitely attorney-client privilege issues arise in Estates. They can come up prior to death, by virtue of the death or afterwards, but in each instance there is a question of the relationship of the estate and the attorney, and who is now the “client” in terms of rights and privileges between…
To Cure A Default A Reasonable Excuse and a Meritorious Defense Must Be Shown
There is nothing new about the requirement that a defendant show both a reasonable excuse for the default as well as a meritorious defense to the action when seeking to vacate a default judgment. Neely v Felicetti
2019 NY Slip Op 08282 Decided on November 14, 2019 Appellate Division, First Department simply repeats this ancient…
Poaching Clients and Deceit
Personal injury law is rife with violations of the Judiciary Law. Cases over the years have identified “runners” who go to accident sites and hospital ERs to get clients, payments of cash to clients, promises to “fund” the case and improper solicitations. Ginarte Gallardo Gonzalez & Winograd, LLP v Schwitzer 2019 NY Slip Op 33275(U) …