Familiarity breeds contempt; so goes the aphorism.  In the years since the Court of Appeals decided  Amalfitano v. Rosenberg the use of Judiciary Law 487 has been trending.  Is it now overexposed?  Will we see it in every legal malpractice setting?  Will it be invoked as often as Rule 130?

Herschman v. Kern, Augustine, Conroy & Schoppmann…

InLaw Offs. of D’amico & Assoc., PLLC v D’Elia ; 2011 NY Slip Op 21160 ; Appellate Term, Second Department attorney (plaintiff) has sued client (defendant) for fees, while at the same time attorney (defendant) is being sued for legal malpractice in Supreme Court by Client (plaintiff.) What happens to the Civil Court fee…

A French artist wants to buy an apartment in New York for a studio and living space. So far, this could be the start of a fairy tale in which the artist comes to NY, works hard, triumphs, etc. But, this real estate transaction soon turned to legal malpractice litigation. One reason for the problems…

Would the words "mutual understanding" have made the difference in this case?  Continuous representation by an attorney of a client requires actual work, a mutual understanding that further work has to be performed and a relationship of trust and confidence.  In Landow v Snow Becker Krauss P.C.  2012 NY Slip Op 31971(U)  July 10…

Attorneys are subject to a triumvirate of claims, which may generally be:  legal malpractice in tort, legal malpractice in contract and breach of fiduciary duty. Attorneys are fiduciaries of their clients, but interestingly, accountants (even CPAs) are not.   In Knockout Vending Worldwide, LLC v Grodsky Caporrino & Kaufman CPA’s, P.C.  2012 NY Slip Op 31855(U) …

Datatreasury Corp. v Del Col; 2012 NY Slip Op 31913(U); July 5, 2012; Sup Ct, Suffolk County
Docket Number: 11-26774; Judge: John J.J. Jones Jr represents a very unusual use of Judiciary Law 487.  It comes mid-case in a commercial setting.

Judge Jones writes: "As is relevant to the instant action, Del Col, in…

We’re still looking at Wortman v. Cheng today.

Although at oral argument, plaintiff’s principal stated he was not challenging the contingency fee agreement the law firm is, in fact, doing just that. Wortman states in his February 17, 2012 affidavit that "I am entitled to the quantum meruit  value of my services In the…

In Wortman v. Cheng,  which we started to write about last week Justice Gische lays out a primer of the various attorney fee claims, and how they interrelate with legal malpractice.

"The elements of a claim for quantum r meruit am:( It)he performance of services in good faith; (2) the acceptance of services…