Although really only a procedural decision,Matz v Sol Klein P.A., Inc. 2019 NY Slip Op 30166(U) January 17, 2019 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 155506/2016
Judge: Kathryn E. Freed does discuss the limits of a broker’s / adjuster’s obligations. Here, Sol Klein argues that it had no responsibility to advise the insured
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.
It’s Not Judiciary Law 487 Case
Clark v Allen & Overy LLP 2019 NY Slip Op 30146(U) January 16, 2019 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 453138/2017 Judge: Arlene P. Bluth is an employment abuse case (between lawyers) that went all the way to a request for cert at SCOTUS. For our purposes, it’s not a JL § 487 case. …
Not Legal Malpractice, Not Good Practice Either
Robinson v Day 2019 NY Slip Op 30153(U) January 16, 2019 Supreme Court, New York County
Docket Number: 600907/2010 Judge: O. Peter Sherwood is an example of how even a written settlement agreement can lead to further litigation and, in this case, a claim of legal malpractice.
“In this action filed by plaintiff Adam Robinson…
A Very Long Time Ago There Was A Judgment
Judgments don’t last forever. They lapse after a number of years. This legal malpractice case tests the limits of how long plaintiff can wait to sue for legal malpractice.
Potenza v Giaimo 2018 NY Slip Op 07164 [165 AD3d 1186] October 24, 2018 Appellate Division, Second Department concerns litigation that began almost 25 years ago. …
Departure is But the First Step in Legal Malpractice
Sure, the attorney made mistakes. Heck, the mistakes were so bad the Court “excoriated” him. Good enough yet? Nope. U Joon Sung v Park 2019 NY Slip Op 30107(U) January 11, 2019
Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 159279/2015 Judge: Kathryn E. Freed shows that departure is merely the first step in a 4-step…
A Lot of Property Transfers, No Malpractice
No privity, no malpractice. That’s the basic lesson of 97 2nd LLC v Goldberg Weprin Finkel Goldstein LLP 2019 NY Slip Op 30021(U) January 4, 2019 Supreme Court, New York County
Docket Number: 154593/2018 Judge: Arlene P. Bluth. In this case where a nice piece of property went back and forth between developers, the attorneys…
South Street Seaport Legal Malpractice Case Just Too Late
Andejo Corp. v South St. Seaport L.P. 2018 NY Slip Op 33431(U) December 28, 2018
Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 655410/16 Judge: Shlomo S. Hagler catalogues a large number of fraud and fraud related claims, as well as legal malpractice claims, and discusses the elements and the statute of limitations implications for each…
Professional Negligence Not Yet Decided; Caveat Emptor Still Reigns
A house leaks. Has the seller deceived the buyer? Is the home inspector negligent? Some, but not all of the questions are answered in Kazmark v Wasyln 2018 NY Slip Op 08990 Decided on December 27, 2018 Appellate Division, Third Department.
“In August 2008, defendant Jefferey M. Wasyln (hereinafter defendant) listed his residence for sale…
Disfavored Exculpatory Agreements by Attorneys
The law firm is paid to safeguard escrow deposits in a film industry case. Proceeds are misapplied and money is said to be missing. Sue the lawfirm? But…what about the agreement which states that the law firm in neither required to nor authorized to investigate? What of the agreement that the escrow shall not be…
It’s Three Years Here!
The Statute of Limitations for legal malpractice in New York is 3 years under CPLR 214(6). In New Jersey it might be 6 years, as the AD1 tells us. However, for a legal malpractice case brought in New York, it has to be started within 3, not 6 years, as plaintiff found out in Soloway …