Predictions of future behavior based upon past behavior are possible, but often perceived as speculative.  In legal malpractice settings past behavior can negatively affect the court’s view on what would have happened in the hypothetical future.  This concept is demonstrated by Lisi v Lowenstein Sandler LLP  2019 NY Slip Op 01665 [170 AD3d 461]  March…

An attorney departs from good practice and an immigrant is jailed for a year.  The attorney is sued and (presumably) is not insured.  He gets a childhood friend to defend the legal malpractice case.  The childhood friend departs from good practice and the immigrant wins a large verdict.  Attorney cannot pay the judgment and files…

The City of New York waited too long to try to amend its third-party complaint.  The Court found that the City knew all the facts upon which the new complaint might be based and after 26 depositions or so, its just too late.

Commodore Constr. Corp. v City of New York  2019 NY Slip Op…

In Pugliese v Martin Law Group, P.C.  2019 NY Slip Op 01810  Decided on March 13, 2019
the Appellate Division, Second Department  reminds that legal malpractice consists of more than a mere mistake.  Plaintiff must still prove proximate or “but for” cause.  Merely failing to perfect an appeal is insufficient.

“ORDERED that the order is…

Attorneys are expected zealously to represent clients, all within the cannons of ethics, of course.  However, “that wasn’t my job” or “I wasn’t retained to do that” is a frequent defense in legal malpractice cases.  Exeter Law Group LLP v Immortalana Inc.  2018 NY Slip Op 01269 [158 AD3d 576]  February 22, 2018  Appellate Division,…

The Second Department gives a black-letter lecture on the common interest privilege, in a legal malpractice setting.  Saint Annes Dev. Co. v Russ  2018 NY Slip Op 00451 [157 AD3d 919]
January 24, 2018  Appellate Division, Second Department holds that:

“The common-interest privilege is an exception to the traditional rule that the presence of a…

Board of Mgrs. of Manhattan Place Condominium v  616 First Ave., LLC  2019 NY Slip Op 30216(U) January 25, 2019  Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 652240/17
Judge: Frank P. Nervo is an excellent primer on the law of contribution and indemnity.  In this property construction setting, there is none available.

“The underlying action…