Here is a good example of a “no-damage” claim against an attorney. The claim fails in this case for two reasons. The first reason is that plaintiff has not been harmed. No damages can be pled. The second reason is that plaintiff cannot really say what the attorney might have done wrong.
Legal Malpractice Cases
A Primer on Fraud, Discovery and the Statute of Limitations
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on
Posted in Legal Malpractice Cases
In a fact pattern that could have come from a bar exam, Justice Bannon dissects the fraud-discovery-statute of limitations issues arising from a real-estate fraud scheme which is said to have involved attorneys, lenders, borrowers and developers.
D. Penguin Bros., Ltd. v City Natl. Bank 2017 NY Slip Op 31926(U) September 8, 2017
Supreme Court,…
One Difference Between Tort and Contract
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on
Posted in Legal Malpractice Cases
Professionals are often sued in both tort and contract. So what is the difference? One is a general wrong to the public and one is a specific wrong to a contracting party. Judge Scarpulla discusses the issue in City of New York v Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc.
2017 NY Slip Op 31906(U) September 7, 2017 …
A Judiciary Law 487 Claim Not Dismissed
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on
Posted in Legal Malpractice Cases
Kimbrook Rte. 31, L.L.C. v Bass 2017 NY Slip Op 01083 [147 AD3d 1508] February 10, 2017
is the Appellate Division, Fourth Department’s latest JL §487 case. It reversed Supreme Court’s dismissal of the complaint. It has two significant lessons.
“Plaintiffs commenced this Judiciary Law § 487 action against defendant based on her conduct when…
The Relation-Back Principle
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on
Posted in Legal Malpractice Cases
The statute of limitations has a haunting presence in legal malpractice. It both generates and limits legal malpractice cases. It is a source of many cases, i.e. where the underlying case was not started on time. The Statute also plays a limiting role in legal malpractice when clients do not understand or learn of the…
Some Lessons from Medical Malpractice Cases
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on
Posted in Legal Malpractice Cases
Medical Malpractice preceeded legal malpractice (the ancient joke being that you could not have medical malpractice until a lawyer was around to harass a doctor) and continuous treatment begat continuous representation. Here, in Lewis v Rutkovsky 2017 NY Slip Op 06342 Decided on August 29, 2017 Appellate Division, First Department we see both an well-written…
Architects Are Somehow Different
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on
Posted in Legal Malpractice Cases, Uncategorized
Sometimes flamboyant, often visionary, architects are different from the general masses. Celebrity architects often have unique personal style, including unusual eyeglasses. That all aside, architects are granted a higher standard of proof against them in negligence actions, as is described in New York Mar. & Gen. Ins. Co. v Perotto Assoc. Eng’g, P.C., 2017…
A New Hotel, A New Construction Method, An Old Problem
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on
Posted in Legal Malpractice Cases
New York is full of real estate stories, and has been since Dutch times. Whether it was acquisitions in Old Breuckelen, or in the narrow streets of the lower east side, real estate and development has always been a New York sort of activity.
Money, Fashion, Greed and Cruelty
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on
Posted in Legal Malpractice Cases, Uncategorized
Legal malpractice cases encapsulate the entire world. In this short story, money, fashion, greed and cruelty combine into a fairy tail of tragedy. Oleg Cassini was wildly successful. He died in 2006 with an estate of about $ 60 Million. He had a child from an earlier marriage with actress Gene Tierney, which ended…
No Expert, No Win.
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on
Posted in Legal Malpractice Cases
Sure, you avoided motions to dismiss. Sure, you avoided a motion for summary judgment. Sure, you got a jury verdict. Enough already? Nope. In Michael v He Gin Lee Architect Planner, PLLC 2017 NY Slip Op 06177 Decided on August 16, 2017, the Appellate Division, Second Department looks at plaintiff’s jury verdict and reverses, then…