During the campaign season, news reports ouline the amounts of money individuals donate to candidates, and there are websites which track donations by name. Recently in West Virginia, a legal malpractice case involving the Massey Coal company there made news when the US Supreme Court decided to hear the question of whether campaign contributions required recusal
Legal Malpractice News
Plaintiff’s Partial Success does not Rule out Legal Malpractice Case
Plaintiff claimed pay and benefits from the Board of Education. Apparently there is a two part process for such claims. The first thing to do is to request a hearing. Later, one may bring an Article 78 proceeding.
In Leticia Abreu v Jose A. Quesada,4489, 6884/05; SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST…
Appellate Legal Malpractice
In STEPHEN F. BRUMMER, , v THE BARNES FIRM, P.C., CELLINO & BARNES, P.C., STEPHEN E. BARNES, ROSS M. CELLINO, AND RICHARD J. BARNES, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FOURTH DEPARTMENT;2008 NY Slip Op 8831; 2008 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 8924 we see a discussion of legal malpractice cases centering on…
Referring Attorney May be Held in Legal Malpractice
Attorney A refers a case to Attorney B, and agree that they will share in a contingent fee between them. Ethical issues aside, may Attorney A, who has not committed malpractice nor taken an active role in the case, be held responsible for Attorney B’s malpractice?
Rosenstrauss v Jacobs & Jacobs ;2008 NY Slip…
Third-Party Practice and Legal Malpractice
"Turnabout is fair play" This childhood aphorism describes the third-party practice in a newly reported case, 601 Realty Corp. v. Conway Farrell, Curtin & Kelly PC, NY Slip Op. 33076, from Supreme Court, Nassau County. The case arises from a lead paint case, and features Conway Farrell’s attempt to third-party plaintiff”s personal attorney which fails.
During the…
Legal Malpractice and the Criminal Plaintiff
Criminal Law practitioners enjoy a blanket immunity for legal malpractice not permitted to any other field of law. Briefly put, a convicted criminal defendant may not successfully sue his attorney unless he can demonstrate innocence or later exoneration.
Here is a case of an individual who pled to a counterfeiting [presumably handbags, ect, and not…
Strange Bed-Fellows in Legal Malpractice
Demonstrating the ancient rubric, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" the case of Rosenstrauss v Women’s Imaging Ctr. of Orange County ;2008 NY Slip Op 08473 ; Decided on November 5, 2008 Appellate Division, Second Department shows us how a procedural issue forces plaintiff to espouse the defense of the legal malpractice defendant…
The “Sophisticated” Client in Legal Malpractice
There is no lack of irony in legal malpractice litigation. Because of the structure of the "case within a case" defendant attorney often takes on the defenses available in the underlying case. So, plaintiff’s attorney sees defendant attorney loudly and heatedly making the very same arguments that were made in the underlying action with absolutely…
Prior Knowledge and Legal Malpractice Insurance
Whether attorney for Plaintiff or for defendant, each practitioner in the Legal Malpractice field has either a professional or personal interest in legal malpractice insurance. No one, whether prosecuting or defending legal malpractice cases wants to lose or have coverage excluded, and attorneys do not want to have coverage lost for the defendants in a…
Recovering Workers’ Compensation Liens in Legal Malpractice
Worker is injured on the job by a paving machine. Worker collects WC benefits from his employment. Worker sues paving machine manufacturer in products liability, and his attorney blows the statute. Worker succeeds in legal malpractice. May WC carrier recoup benefits?
Had the case been tried as a products liability case [not legal malpractice] in…