Defense attorneys in legal malpractice cases typically raise several arguments against plaintiff.  One is that plaintiff had multiple attorneys which they posit indicates lack of merit or rigor in the case.  Another argument is that plaintiff is just monday-morning-quarterbacking, or whatever simile they choose.  Sadly, sometimes they are correct, and Hyman v Schwartz   2016 NY…

As an example of suing too fast, Chapman v Faustin  2016 NY Slip Op 30321(U)  February 23, 2016  Supreme Court, New York County  Docket Number: 157736/15  Judge: Cynthia S. Kern stands out.  The basics are that Plaintiff hired defendant to be his accountant and run the shop.  Defendant allowed a 32 acre parcel of land…

“But for” proximate cause is the black hole of legal malpractice and in a way, of all litigation.  The question of whether a mistakes really makes a difference is central to the entire legal system.  Did you look away from the road for a second?  Yes.  Did it make a difference?  Did you overstate the…

Completing our review of the 2015 Judiciary Law§ 487 cases, Tooker v Schwartzberg  2015 NY Slip Op 31620(U)  August 17, 2015  Supreme Court, Suffolk County  Docket Number: 9463/14
allows Judge Paul J. Baisley to set forth the basic rules of Judiciary Law §487 as well as Fraud upon the Court.

First:  the conclusion:  “ORDERED that…

To be truthful, its son v. mom in one part of the case and son v. mom’s attorneys in the Judiciary Law 487 case.  It’s sort of a tragedy.  Mom had a medical malpractice case for bad breast reduction, and the case was started.  While the case was going Dad died in a small plane-instruction…

When a retail establishement (say, a restaurant) is sold, there is a well-known problem of sales tax.  Some will definitely be owed to the government, at least that amount since the last quarterly payment.  There may also be unpaid sales tax liability.  A well-settled procedure is set down in statute, and if followed allows the…

Was it Mark Twain who said that if you represent yourself, you have a fool for a client?  Perhaps Abraham Lincoln?  No matter…The Appellate Division implicitly said so today, and dismissed a legal malpractice and Judiciary Law § 487 claim made by a lawyer who, they implied, ought to have known better than to say…

Judiciary Law §487, which regulates and punishes attorney deceit is a statute which is not “light granted.”  In this case, we see that the mere production of fraudulent documents  may not be enough to hold the producing attorneys under the statute.

Specialized Indus. Servs. Corp. v Carter  2015 NY Slip Op 06912 [131 AD3d 1162]  …