Attorney fees collections are frequently said to be the major cause of legal malpractice litigation. Some lawyers have resorted to starting litigation lending setups which lend money to their clients, thereby arranging for the attorney to be paid and the client to be the subject of a high-interest litigation loan. Justicebacker Inc. v Abeles 2019 NY Slip… Continue Reading
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No Legal Malpractice in this Child Custody-Support Case
Posted in Legal Malpractice CasesLegal malpractice in child custody / child support settings is notoriously difficult to prove. To begin, there is often a privity problem. If that issue is solved, then the speculation question of “what would the judge have done if…” comes up. It seems that this was the shortcoming in Chaudhuri v Kilmer 2018 NY Slip Op 00964… Continue Reading
What Is Required to Avoid Summary Judgment?
Posted in Legal Malpractice CasesIn Bakcheva v Law Offs. of Stein & Assoc. 2019 NY Slip Op 00844 Decided on February 6, 2019 the Second Department gives an example of what must be demonstrated by plaintiff to avoid summary judgment on a claim of legal malpractice. “In January 2012, the plaintiff purchased a penthouse apartment on the seventh floor of a condominium… Continue Reading
Accounting Malpractice and So Much More
Posted in Legal Malpractice CasesEpiphany Community Nursery Sch. v Levey 2019 NY Slip Op 00842 Decided on February 5, 2019 Appellate Division, First Department Singh, J., J. is not primarily about accounting malpractice. That nugget is merely part of a much larger fraud which seemed to swamp a NYC private school. The intra-familial fraud is stunning. “In 1973 Wendy Levey (Wendy) married defendant… Continue Reading
Short and Sweet Denial of Judiciary Law 487 Motion
Posted in Legal Malpractice CasesIt’s the oldest law in anglo-american jurisprudence; it’s rarely applied and even more rarely applied successfully. Here is a swing and miss in Matter of B. (Anonymous), also known as L. (Anonymous) Motion No: 2016-10028 Slip Opinion No: 2019 NY Slip Op 62045(U) Decided on February 1, 2019 Appellate Division, Second Department, Motion Decision. “Motion by Sebastian B. for leave… Continue Reading
How A Lawfirm May Limit Its Retainer Letter
Posted in Legal Malpractice CasesClients rightfully expect the retainer lawyer to engage zealously on their behalf. What are the limits of such representation? How does the lawfirm correctly limit its obligations to the client. It starts by following the rules for a retainer agreement or a letter of engagement set forth in 22 NYCRR § 1215. Attallah v Milbank, Tweed,… Continue Reading
Banished From Court and Case Dismissed
Posted in Legal Malpractice CasesIt’s seen from time to time, but rarely. Pro-se plaintiffs are deprived of the right to file a lawsuit or to file motions because the Court becomes so irritated by their filings. Strujan v Kaufman & Kahn, LLP 2019 NY Slip Op 00630 Decided on January 30, 2019 Appellate Division, Second Department is an example. “The plaintiff commenced this… Continue Reading
The Shortest Opinion Ever?
Posted in Legal Malpractice CasesLouis F. Burke PC v Aezah 2019 NY Slip Op 00557 Decided on January 29, 2019 Appellate Division, First Department may be the shortest AD1 opinion of recent memory. Here is the entirety: “Order, Supreme Court, New York County (David Benjamin Cohen, J.), entered January 3, 2018, which, to the extent appealed from as limited by the briefs,… Continue Reading
No Dismissal in Professional Negligence Case
Posted in Legal Malpractice CasesAlthough 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 of a second policy which… Continue Reading
Not Legal Malpractice, Not Good Practice Either
Posted in Legal Malpractice CasesRobinson 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 [“AR”] in April, 2010… Continue Reading
A Very Long Time Ago There Was A Judgment
Posted in Legal Malpractice CasesJudgments 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. “The defendants represented… Continue Reading
Departure is But the First Step in Legal Malpractice
Posted in Legal Malpractice CasesSure, 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 dance. Next? Proximate cause and… Continue Reading
A Lot of Property Transfers, No Malpractice
Posted in Legal Malpractice CasesNo 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 obtained dismissal of… Continue Reading
South Street Seaport Legal Malpractice Case Just Too Late
Posted in Legal Malpractice CasesAndejo 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 of them. This case… Continue Reading
Professional Negligence Not Yet Decided; Caveat Emptor Still Reigns
Posted in Legal Malpractice CasesA 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 and completed a property… Continue Reading
Disfavored Exculpatory Agreements by Attorneys
Posted in Legal Malpractice CasesThe 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… Continue Reading
It’s Three Years Here!
Posted in Legal Malpractice CasesThe 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 v… Continue Reading
A Whole Lot of Attorneys and the Resulting Brew
Posted in Legal Malpractice CasesKnox v Aronson, Mayefsky & Sloan, LLP 2018 NY Slip Op 09030 Decided on December 27, 2018 Appellate Division, First Department Singh, J. points up some recurring issues that take place in matrimonial-legal malpractice cases: there are often multiple attorneys (6 or more in this case), there are many opportunities for the husband and wife to make their own… Continue Reading
A Complicated Case, Simplified
Posted in Legal Malpractice CasesUtilisave, LLC v Fox Horan & Camerini, LLP 2018 NY Slip Op 33284(U) December 18, 2018 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 652318/2014 Judge: Kathryn E. Freed is a complicated case involving rotating ownership of a party in litigation, purchases from the liquidating trustee and 10 lawsuits in multiple states. Judge Freed eventually rules on summary judgment in what… Continue Reading
A Doctor Unable to Control Himself; A Patient Injured
Posted in Legal Malpractice CasesLegal malpractice is but a child of professional negligence, and medical malpractice is a sibling. In “Jane Doe” v Sharma 2018 NY Slip Op 28386 Decided on December 1, 2018 Supreme Court, Nassau County Judge Brown navigates a very unusual medical malpractice case which has several shocking details. “In this highly unusual case, the plaintiff has advanced five causes… Continue Reading
A Fraud, A Fleecing, Legal Malpractice?
Posted in Legal Malpractice CasesTatintsian v Pryor Cashman LLP 2018 NY Slip Op 33152(U) December 10, 2018 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 152022/2017 is extremely complicated, but Judge David Benjamin Cohen unravels the facts and teases out a legal malpractice analysis. “In this action, plaintiff Gary Tatintsian (Plaintiff) alleges that defendants Pryor Cashman LLP (Pryor Cashman), Eric Hellige (Hellige) and Eudora Partners… Continue Reading
Win in the Supreme Court, Lose in the Appellate Division
Posted in Legal Malpractice CasesA fair number of summary judgment decisions rendered in Supreme Court are reversed in the Appellate Division. Rather than simply ask how two courts can view the same evidence in such a differing light, note the deep doctrinal differences between that which Supreme Court credited and that which the Appellate Division relied upon in 762 Westchester… Continue Reading
Litigating In The Press Can Be Dangerous
Posted in Legal Malpractice CasesSometimes lawyers believe that they can affect the climate of litigation by getting a little press attention. This may work on occasion, but can wreck a case as well. Barr v Liddle & Robertson, L.L.P. 2018 NY Slip Op 33113(U) December 3, 2018 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 159781/14 Judge: Manuel J. Mendez is an example of the dangers… Continue Reading
Legal Malpractice in a Real Estate Development Setting
Posted in Legal Malpractice CasesWhether there has been legal malpractice in a real estate development setting, or no malpractice at all depends on at least four elements. The least interesting of these elements is the departure. In almost every legal malpractice case there is a definite departure. It’s the “proximate cause” and the “but for” portions of the equation… Continue Reading
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