Manus v Flamm , 2011 NY Slip Op 31691(U); June 14, 2011; Supreme Court, New York County; Docket Number: 110026/2007; Judge: Debra A. James tells an interesting story of divorce, legal malpractice and itinerant jewelery. Plaintiff is the divorced wife, who is owed $ 1 million in the divorce. She borrows jewelery from the husband’s…

Courts routinely scrutinize the actions of plaintiffs in legal malpractice cases, and we sometimes wonder whether their behavior receives a higher level of scrutiny than do other plaintiffs.  In G & M Realty, L.P. v Masyr   2012 NY Slip Op 05257    Decided on June 28, 2012   Appellate Division, First Department  the Court finds that…

The rule has always been that a plaintiff must be able to allege actual innocense (reversal, acquittal or exonoeration) in order to sue a criminal defense attorney for legal malpractice.  Recently, in Dombrowsky v. Bulson,  2012 NY Slip Op 04203 (2012) the Court of Appeals trimmed possible bases for damages solely to economic damages. …

In Clerico v Pollak   2012 NY Slip Op 51178(U)   Decided on June 26, 2012   Supreme Court, Queens County   McDonald, J. we see the complicated aftermath of a flip sale.  As far as we can gather Plaintiffs were offered a deal in which they would sell their real property to A, who would then turn…

When does a corporation have capacity to sue for legal malpractice?  What must a defendant plead in order to assert affirmative defenses?  How many proceedings will take place in this case before issue is joined?

Moran Enters., Inc. v Hurst   2012 NY Slip Op 04980   Decided on June 20, 2012   Appellate Division, Second Department…

In 2002 attorneys are retained to handle a legal matter relating to a parcel of property known as 350 Shore Road, Long Beach, New York by Xander.  The clients wanted to contest easement rights over the 350 Shore Road property in favor of their own property at 360 Shore Road.  This initial litigation led to…

It started from a simple commercial transaction, and when it was all over, more than 9 years later, the law firm had lost its legal malpractice case and had to pay a very significant amount of money as a judgment.  Where did they go wrong?

Lovino, Inc. v Lavallee Law Offs.   2012 NY Slip…

We’ve noted our anecdotal belief that more legal malpractice cases are dismissed on CPLR 3211 grounds than in general.  We are the first to admit that no statistical study has been done.  In the spirit of anecdotal evidence, we look at Harris v Barbera   2012 NY Slip Op 04973
Decided on June 20, 2012  …