Judiciary Law § 487 is the attorney deceit statute, of ancient origin.  It permits treble damages arising from attorney deceit, yet is rarely granted.  Savitt v Greenberg Traurig, LLP  2015 NY Slip Op 02003 [126 AD3d 506]  March 12, 2015 Appellate Division, First Department is one example.  The Court recognizes that something went on, but…

Savitt v Greenberg Traurig, LLP    2015 NY Slip Op 02003 [126 AD3d 506]  March 12, 2015
Appellate Division, First Department is an example of the general way in which the Appellate Division and the various Supreme Courts treat Judiciary Law §487 claims,  which are not “lightly given.”  A brisk dismissal with the reason that the…

One of the four elements in legal malpractice is “ascertainable damages.”  They are more easily provable in some settings than in others.  Custody and matrimonial economic damages are very hard to demonstrate, as Miazga v Assaf  2016 NY Slip Op 01025  Decided on February 11, 2016
Appellate Division, Third Department shows us.

“Plaintiff retained defendants…

The statute of limitations for legal malpractice is three years under CPLR 214(6).  That statute may be tolled during the period of continuous representation.  Continuous representation, for social policy reasons, tolls the running of the statute so that a client is not required to sue the attorney while the representation continues on, allowing for the…

Hudson v Hahn Kook Ctr. (USA), Inc.  2016 NY Slip Op 00882  Decided on February 9, 2016
Appellate Division, First Department presents us with an unusual setting for a Judiciary Law 487 claim.  This claim came up within the underlying case, and took place during the withdrawal of the attorney and his claim under Judiciary…

Generally speaking, there is no collateral estoppel defense available to defendant attorneys in a legal malpractice case.  They often say, for example, that because a case was dismissed, it’s your fault, not theirs, and hence you should not be able to sue them for the bad outcome.  Their legal argument is that you are…

The confluence of First Amendment rights, the overarching current need for celebrity and self-promotion appear to have collided in a case where plaintiff retained attorneys to represent him, then resolved the case, and decided to speak to the Wall Street Journal in violation of a non-disparagement provision of the underlying contract.  Result: bad for the…

Skarla v NPSFT LLC   2016 NY Slip Op 30152(U)  January 27, 2016  Supreme Court, Queens   County  Docket Number: 90/14  Judge: Allan B. Weiss  takes a long time to explain, but its all about real estate, and the desire to take over some juicy properties.  Did the attorney wrongfully help out?   That’s still to be…