As proof that Judiciary Law § 487 has entered the mainstream, and will likely be snapchatted soon, take a look at Delbaun v Self Represented Kevin McKeown May 30, 2019 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 157986/2018 Judge: Andrew Borrok. First, the names. Is the caption not a tip off that this is
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.
A Shortcut and a Second Chance
Owner A performs work in a NYC building. Owner B is damaged. Owner B sues Owner A as well as the building. Lots of attorney fees are generated. Owner B then sues the attorneys for the Board for legal malpractice. Standing? No. Derivative claim on behalf of the Board. No. Second chance? Yes.
“This action…
Your Order To Show Cause Not Signed? What To Do
The Appellate Division gave explicit advice, not often heard, on how to deal with an Order to Show Cause which a judge declines to sign. In the end, everyone seems to have done it wrong. In Cypress Hills Mgt., Inc. v Lempenski 2019 NY Slip Op 04677 Decided on June 12, 2019
Appellate Division,…
Much Ado, Little Movement
Dillon v Peak Envtl., LLC 2019 NY Slip Op 04548 Decided on June 7, 2019 Appellate Division, Fourth Department is the story of an upstate commercial case which went through a lot of procedural wrangling, up to the Appellate Division, with little forward movement. Legal malpractice is an important but not properly plead part.
“Memorandum:…
A Better Explanation Required
It seems as if the Appellate Division scratched its head on this claim of legal malpractice. It seemed not sure how to calculate the claimed departure from good practice. In Kaplan v Conway & Conway 2019 NY Slip Op 04477 Decided on June 6, 2019 Appellate Division, First Department it questioned the foundation of…
If a Tree Falls Can Someone Prove Legal Malpractice?
Let’s assume that an attorney fails to make sure that there is a certificate of occupancy for the finished version of a home, and then a tree falls on the house, do we know enough to determine whether there was legal malpractice? We fall into a familiar trap if our analysis ends with identification of…
Amicus Brief in the New York Court of Appeals
From time to time we discuss Judiciary Law § 487, the ancient common law statute. It is perhaps the oldest common law statute, post-dating the Magna Carta (1215) by only 60 years. It was imported into the common law at the birth of our nation. Over time refinements and embellishments have been added, including the…
A Building Sold, A Building Lost
Naivete is the assigned cause of the sale of a building without full payment, but legal malpractice is the claimed reason. Problem? Plaintiff started the action 4 years after the sale. Hudson 418 Riv. Rd., LLC v Safiya Consultants Inc. 2019 NY Slip Op 31506(U) May 24, 2019 Supreme Court, Kings County Docket Number:…
Everyone Loses Here
In what looks like a 9 year battle over attorney fees and legal malpractice allegations, it appears that everyone loses in this case. Filemyr v Hall 2019 NY Slip Op 31526(U) May 28, 2019 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 654563/2018 Judge: Andrew Borrok discusses limitations on attorney fee claims and the necessity of…
A Pro-Se Case Goes Awry
Pro-se cases, as might be expected, often wash up on the rocks because of poor technical application. In Strujan v Kaufman & Kahn, LLP 2019 NY Slip Op 00630 [168 AD3d 1114]
January 30, 2019 Appellate Division, Second Department we see failed service of the summons, denied default motions and a direction that all motions…