The basic rules of summary judgment, well understood and well settled must be followed. Whether its the need for a person with knowledge to give an affidavit, or that you need to provide prima facie entitlement to get the court to look at your papers, the basics must be followed.
Cullin v Spiess 2014…
One of the recent limitations on legal malpractice cases has been a strict adherence to the need for pecuniary loss. The Court of Appeals held that even incarceration by itself was insufficient. Dombrowski v Bulson 2012 NY Slip Op 04203 [19 NY3d 347
]Here in Fountain v Ferrara 2014 NY Slip Op 03947 [118…
An account stated claim for fees is one in which the attorney says: "I’ve billed you, and sent invoices on a regular basis. You did not object. Since you did not object, you have agreed that the bills are fair. Now, pay them." Courts very often enforce this principal in favor of the attorney.
So…
Plaintiff brings a legal malpractice case against attorney and alleges that the attorney did not timely file a notice of appeal, that the underlying case was dismissed on discovery grounds ant that the mistake was by the attorney, and that the attorney failed to convey a settlement offer. Supreme Court considers the motion and finds…
OK, so you own a home in the NY Metropolitan area, and have some land. Houses around here have a half-acre, or an acre or even 2-3 acres. That’s a lot of land around here. Now imagine you have so much land that you and the golf course next door are arguing over a mere 5…
Lawyers arguing over legal fees make up a surprising number of law suits. When one reads down the list of AD cases to be argued, the number of law firms as parties is striking. in Tassan v Pugatch & Nikolis 2014 NY Slip Op 33441(U) December 29, 2014 Supreme Court, Suffolk County Docket Number: 30031/2012 …
Judge Lewis of Supreme Court, Kings County decides a legal malpractice case coming from an motor vehicle negligence case. Defendant attorneys brought the case in Civil Court in which jurisdiction is limited to $25,000. They did not sue all the potential drivers and owners. Client took the case away from defendants and gave it to…
The Business Judgment rule protects condo and coop boards from many claims. Chief among them are the day-to-day decisions on how to run the building. Do we fix the elevators? Do we change the boiler? Shall we give the super a raise? Owners who are unhappy have a very limited number of options, as is…
In this legal malpractice action Estate of Alston v Ramseur 2015 NY Slip Op 00490 Decided on January 21, 2015 Appellate Division, Second Department the attorney is defending against a claim that there was a departure from good practice which proximately damaged the client. In defense, the attorney allowed a conditional order to be…
Clients sometimes exaggerate or have high hopes about their damages. They sometimes do so in order to interest attorneys in taking their legal malpractice case. Often, they will inform the potential attorney that the damages are in the MILLIONS! Sometimes it’s true. However, this story from the New York Law Journal today eclipses any of those…
