Surely the longest running Judiciary Law§ 487 case known to man, Melcher v Greenberg Traurig LLP 2018 NY Slip Op 06310 Decided on September 27, 2018 Appellate Division, First Department has been modified and sent back to Supreme Court for trial. Previously it had been severely clipped and stripped of most of the damage claims
Legal Malpractice Basics
Judiciary Law 487 Has a Very High Hurdle to Clear
Many JL § 487 cases are brought; few get to be considered for damages and far fewer ever get to the trier of fact. Yerushalmi v Schoenfeld 2018 NY Slip Op 05623 Decided on August 1, 2018 Appellate Division, Second Department is an example.
“In 2002, Malka Yerushalmi (hereinafter Malka) commenced an action for a…
The Very Strong Account Stated Doctrine
Holtzman v Griffith 2018 NY Slip Op 04540 Decided on June 20, 2018 Appellate Division, Second Department illustrates the almost overpowering quality of the “account stated” doctrine, in which the failure to object (in writing) to bills from attorneys (or others) can serve as a conclusion that the recipient has accepted the bills without objection…
Plaintiff Gets Lots of Latitude In This Legal Malpractice Case
Castlewood Apparel Corp. v Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP 2018 NY Slip Op 30717(U)
April 23, 2018 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 150167/2017 Judge: Shlomo S. Hagler is a case which displays an unusual degree of latitude in denying a 3211 motion to dismiss. We have written that these motions seem to get…
What We Mean When We Speak of Lawyers
Litigation is alternatively a blood sport or the sport of kings. It takes a lot of money and sometimes tempers flare. In Englese v Sladkus 2018 NY Slip Op 50625(U) Decided on April 25, 2018
Supreme Court, New York County St. George, J. we see what happens when a litigant speaks candidly without any filtering.…
It’s a Three-Way Circus in This Real Estate Deal
Plaintiffs hired an attorney in order to purchase a condominium. Unfortunately, the condo was subject to mold and water damage. Razdolskaya v Lyubarsky 2018 NY Slip Op 02817
Decided on April 25, 2018 Appellate Division, Second Department starts out with an analysis of why there is a fraud claim. It ends with an analysis of…
An Insufficient Affidavit; A Lost Case
Legal Malpractice claims accrue at the time a mistake is made. The Statute of limitations in legal malpractice, three years, is a difficult and high barrier to overcome. Continuous representation may toll the running of the statute, but social policy has set a number of elements required for continuous representation to be permitted. Stein Indus., …
Work Product Discovery in Professional Negligence Cases
What is discoverable and what is not discoverable in a professional negligence setting influences the viability of the claims. Attorney-Client privilege, work-product privilege and burdensomeness are all considerations in whether the material is discoverable. Judge Shulman gives a cogent explanation of the competing arguments in American Med. Alert Corp. v Evanston Ins. Co.
2018 NY…
A Bad Loan, A Gutted Airplane, A Negative Outcome
Professional malpractice, other than for physicians and some medical providers is three years. Even with tolling for continuous representation, that three years can go by very quickly. In Schembre v Saggese 2018 NY Slip Op 30191(U) February 1, 2018 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 656328/2016 Judge: Saliann Scarpulla too much time went by…
The Statute of Limitations in Professional Malpractice
Accountants and stock-financial advisers are professionals for the purpose of the statute of limitations. For this reason the doctrine of “continuous representation” can apply. Reville v Melvin Ginsberg & Assoc. 2017 NY Slip Op 30821(U) April 20, 2017 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 152167/2015 Judge: Joan M. Kenney gives some explanation on how…