Hinnant v Carrington Mtge. Servs., LLC 2019 NY Slip Op 03575 [172 AD3d 827] May 8, 2019
Appellate Division, Second Department is an example of overeaching by plaintiff, seeking to bring in the opponent’s attorney. There is no privity with the opponent’s attorney absent some very small exceptions. Privity is a requirement for a good
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.
Good and Duplicitive Claims in Professional Negligence
Architects, similar to attorneys, can be liable for general torts as well as breach of contract. For the most part, it’s one or the other. In Junger v John V. Dinan Assoc., Inc. 2018 NY Slip Op 06232 [164 AD3d 1428] September 26, 2018 Appellate Division, Second Department we see how the claims are evaluated.…
Duplication in Causes of Action
In Jonns v Fischbarg 2019 NY Slip Op 31919(U) July 3, 2019 Supreme Court, New York County
Docket Number: 150729/2017 Judge Kathryn Freed gives a nice cogent explanation of two recurring legal malpractice principles. One is how the statute of limitations is calculated and the other is whether multiple causes of action. We’ll look at…
The Statute of Limitations Simply Explained
In Jonns v Fischbarg 2019 NY Slip Op 31919(U) July 3, 2019 Supreme Court, New York County
Docket Number: 150729/2017 Judge Kathryn Freed gives a nice cogent explanation of two recurring legal malpractice principles. One is how the statute of limitations is calculated and the other is whether multiple causes of action. We’ll look at…
Accountant Did Not File The Return, Yet Blames The Client
Client hires attorney to do Surrogate’s Court case. Attorney hires CPA to do Estate tax returns. CPA fails to file the returns timely and loses a six-figure refund on the statute of limitations. CPA is sued and motion practice follows. In Mazur Carp & Rubin, P.C. v Cohen & Schaeffer, C.P.A., P.C. 2019 NY…
“It Could Happen” is Not Enough For Legal Malpractice
Departure, Proximate Cause and Ascertainable Damages are the holy triumvirate of legal malpractice. Miami Capital, LLC v Hurwitz 2019 NY Slip Op 05332 Decided on July 2, 2019
Appellate Division, First Department illustrates what happens when one or more of these elements are missing, or at best, speculative.
“Defendant’s motion was properly granted because while…
Legal Malpractice ? Three Years Fraud? 6 Years, But Don’t Wait Too Long
Kislev Partners, LLP v Sidley LLP 2019 NY Slip Op 31850(U) June 27, 2019 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 152739/2018 Judge: Saliann Scarpulla is an example of a multi-million dollar tax shelter fraud case in which Plaintiffs waited too long to sue.
“Plaintiffs claim that, in late 2002, they identified a potential real…
It’s The Essentials, Part 2
While it is fine and well to identify a departure from good practice, it is similarly necessary to prove all the elements of legal malpractice. Even more important, it is necessary to follow motion practice and procedures.
The Essentials Are Still Important
Many people take a look at a legal malpractice situation and stop after identifying a departure. In more common language, after finding a mistake, the analysis ends. Failure to identify and have all elements of legal malpractice will lead to failure. Sapienza v Becker & Poliakoff 2019 NY Slip Op 05218 Decided on June 27,…
Most Claims Wiped Out; Legal Malpractice Claims Remain
Urias v Daniel P. Buttafuoco & Assoc., PLLC 2019 NY Slip Op 05180 Decided on June 26, 2019 Appellate Division, Second Department speaks about Judiciary Law § 487 and legal malpractice. In this summary judgment case, the legal malpractice claims remain in view of opposing experts. The JL claims are dismissed.
“The plaintiff commenced this…