Sub-prime mortgages and mortgage litigation in general has expanded if not exploded.  New rules, new fees, limitations and new court parts have all followed in the wake.  Borrowers who lose at the mortgage litigation stage then look to legal malpractice as a follow up.  in Jay v. Gallagher
2011 NY Slip Op 32563(U); September 20…

We sometimes ponder whether attorneys are held to a lesser standard in Legal Malpractice, or to put it a different way, are plaintiffs in legal malpractice forced to overcome sympathy for attorneys?  It cannot be argued that there is a fourth element in legal malpractice – the "but for" rule – that exists no where…

Much of what we report is legal malpractice, and that almost always deals with money.  What did plaintiff lose?  How much was plaintiff required to pay?  What are the attorney fees?  Why is plaintiff liable to pay an attorney some money?  All important questions, and often they tell of a subtext of injury, divorce, disenfranchisement…

When does continuous representation end?  Sometimes there is a specific event (a judgment, a verdict, a motion decision) and sometimes there is a specific event plus a specific period of time (the date of the injury + three years) and sometimes continuous representation ends when the parties believe it ends.  So it is in Hadda …

Decedent hires attorney to prepare a will, and to make changes to beneficiaries for her assets.  As one might predict, something goes wrong.  in Gurvitz v Wank; 2011 NY Slip Op 32511(U); September 19, 2011; Supreme Court, Nassau County; Docket Number: 10468/06; Judge: Ute W. Lally we see the results.  The litigation goes on…

Might we trust our attorneys?  Can a plaintiff be assured that the attorneys are not conspiring with defendants to "carve" up the settlement between them.  Our system is based upon trust and loyalty, and a belief in the incentive of success.  However…

It need not always be true.  as an example, the Second Circuit reversed…

Legal malpractice is ubiquitous and might be expected at any attorney-client interface.  What is not expected, nor routine is the big loss of escrow funds.  News cycles have more and more reported on "rogue" traders/professionals.  Here is a big one in the law world from the NY Law Journal:

Client Sues Crowell Over Missing Escrow
 …

A recent case, reported on Lexis but not yet entered in the NYS Court Appellate Division web site discusses the interrelation of defamation and legal malpractice.  In DANY DAVID, Plaintiff, – against – MICHAIL Z. HACK, WILLIAM J. O’MAHONEY and QUADRINO & SCHWARTZ, Defendants. INDEX NO. 103705/11; 103705/11; SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, NEW YORK…