An often found situation in legal malpractice cases is the successor counsel problem.  In a nutshell, here it is.  Plaintiff hires attorney 1 who makes a mistake.  Plaintiff finds out about the mistake, which has not led to outright dismissal, but rather, to a problem.  Plaintiff hires attorney 2 who is unable to solve the…

Rule 1215, setting forth the necessity for a retainer agreement between attorney and client, has some very strong language.  Under the rule, in the absence of a retainer agrement, no legal fee can be enforced.  This is the rule, no?

Actually, no.  A case this week in the Appellate Division, First Department underscores the…

It’s just a few words spoken to the record, and in this case, none of the participants dispute what was the agreement between the parties, yet, here, a settlement was not a settlement, and all because the judge made a decision and held firmly to it.

In Diarassouba v Urban ;2009 NY Slip Op…

One might think that after a loss of the underlying case, a legal malpractice action will undoubtedly be successful.  That thought is, of course, naive.  As an example. suppose you are a landlord and owner of a commercial setting who sells to buyer, who is to pay for the sale over time.  buyer disappears, and…

Nate Raymond of the NYLJ reports a second unusual legal malpractice case, this time with an attorney as the plaintiff.  He sues over a case concerning his former law office and whether he was due money in the wake of its breakup.  "Partnership law expert Leslie Corwin is being sued by an attorney he represented…

Nate Raymond of the NYLJ reports on a $55 Million legal malpractice case  Ableco Finance LLC v. Hilson, Ippolito and Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP arising from loans made to a large retailer, and events after the loan went sour, bankruptcy filings, and apparently a big pay back by the lender in Bankruptcy Court.

"A…

One has to shake the head and ask why all the effort goes into a law suit that will [or is so likely to] fail?  The question is multiplied when plaintiff is an attorney seeking fees.

Rule 137 seems pretty comprehensive and exacting.  Attorney who seeks a fee needs to serve th client with an…

Yesterday we discussed the plaintiff v. her own attorney part of Dupree v Voorhees ; 2009 NY Slip Op 09183 ; Decided on December 8, 2009 ; Appellate Division, Second Department .  Today we look at Dupree v. her husband’s attorneys.  Traditionally this type of case has been out of bounds.  For policy reasons, courts…