By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in UncategorizedJudiciary Law § 487 is an ancient part of the common law, recently elevated from a mere statute by the Court of Appeals. That being said, the First and the Second Departments have a major difference in an agreed upon definition. Here, in Bill Birds, Inc. v Stein Law Firm, P.C. 2018 NY Slip Op 05743 Decided on… Continue Reading
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in UncategorizedThis entire episode could have been prevented. The most likely reason for the problem is that the landlord purchased the building at a foreclosure sale and never became aware that the prior owner had entered into a stunning stipulation. Beyond that mere fact, it is true that ancient SRO regulations on the UWS created a… Continue Reading
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in UncategorizedA thorough read of the decision in Matter of Gomez 2018 NY Slip Op 32127(U) August 6, 2018 Surrogate’s Court, Nassau County Docket Number: 2011-365510/B Judge: Margaret C. Reilly is an eye-opener. Look at the billings and look at the Court’s cuts. It’s worth a complete read.… Continue Reading
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in UncategorizedBrothers-in-law can be a problem to a successful car sales operation as is sadly set forth in Brausch v Devery 2018 NY Slip Op 31929(U) August 7, 2018 Supreme Court, Suffolk County Docket Number: 11-28918 Judge: Denise F. Molia. Plaintiff has a nice little used car lot and allows his brother-in-law to help him run it. When he has to,… Continue Reading
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in UncategorizedWe are pleased to report that the Law Office of Andrew Lavoott Bluestone has been selected once again for Best Lawyers in America – 2019 for Legal Malpractice.… Continue Reading
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in UncategorizedWell, not for simply hiring an e-Discovery company, but for hiring a pet e-Discovery company which egregiously overbilled might lead to liability for the law firm. We look at FTI Consulting, Inc. v CT Miami, LLC 2018 NY Slip Op 31923(U) August 6, 2018 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 654062/2016 Judge: Melissa A. Crane for a second day.… Continue Reading
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in UncategorizedThere are very few successful Judiciary Law § 487 cases. Courts stretch and bend to find a way around what appears to be actual deceit by attorneys. Take Matneja v Zito 2018 NY Slip Op 05298 Decided on July 18, 2018 Appellate Division, Second Department as an example. Here it is alleged that a law firm knew that its client… Continue Reading
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in UncategorizedIt is even harder to bring a successful legal malpractice case against the divorce attorney when the matter was settled. Holtzman v Griffith 2018 NY Slip Op 04540 Decided on June 20, 2018 Appellate Division, Second Department, aside from its lesson on “account stated” tells us that a legal malpractice claim from a settled divorce action has many… Continue Reading
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in UncategorizedKing Tower Realty Corp. v G & G Funding Corp. 2018 NY Slip Op 05027 Decided on July 5, 2018 Appellate Division, Second Department illustrates the power of the statute of limitations. While plaintiff may succeed in Supreme Court, many such decisions are reversed in the AD. This is one. “The plaintiff commenced this action on February 27,… Continue Reading
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in UncategorizedClient is injured and several municipality defendants may be liable. Attorneys fail to file a Notice of Claim within the requisite 90 days. Attorneys are fired and new attorneys hired. One year and 90 days pass. Is there legal malpractice and if so, who might be responsible? Liporace v Neimark & Neimark, LLP 2018 NY Slip… Continue Reading
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in Legal Malpractice Cases,UncategorizedBUFFALO: After much litigation, this case ends with all causes of action and all counterclaims dismissed. Fee Claims as well as Legal Malpractice Claims are all out and the matter is over. “Memorandum: Plaintiff commenced this action for legal malpractice alleging that defendants acted negligently while representing it in an action involving a construction… Continue Reading
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in UncategorizedThe Court of Appeals rarely takes cases. Here, in Mid-Hudson Val. Fed. Credit Union v Quartararo & Lois, PLLC 2018 NY Slip Op 04034 Decided on June 7, 2018 the Court of Appeals had to hear the case, as there was a two-judge dissent in the Appellate Division. What was the case about? You would not know from… Continue Reading
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in UncategorizedClient is injured. Attorney is hired. Attorney negotiates a rate of pay. Must the attorney look to see whether the client has insurance, and if so, how hard does the attorney have to look? Remember, if there is insurance there may be an insurance lawyer lurking and about to take over from the inquiring attorney.… Continue Reading
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in UncategorizedALBANY The Court of Appeals addressed professional malpractice and duplicity. Here we are discussing duplicitive causes of action, not deceit in the meaning of Judiciary Law § 487. “The two questions on this appeal are whether plaintiff City of New York is an intended third-party beneficiary of the architectural services contract between plaintiff Dormitory Authority… Continue Reading
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in UncategorizedIn the super-heated world of Manhattan real estate, $9.8 Million apartments are the middle children. Not the biggest, not the smallest. However, Riviera Prop. Holdings, LLC v Ferber Chan Essner & Coller, LLP 2017 NY Slip Op 27424 [58 Misc 3d 708] July 31, 2017 Billings, J. Supreme Court, New York County is an exceptional case. Plaintiffs were induced… Continue Reading
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in UncategorizedMatter of Aris 2018 NY Slip Op 03633 Decided on May 10, 2018 Appellate Division, First Department Per Curiam is definitely not a jury case. However, it speaks of a trial of Joran Jehudah Aris, with a successful jury verdict on Judiciary Law § 487. We did not know of any jury verdicts for a JL § 487 claim. The verdict… Continue Reading
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in Legal Malpractice Basics,UncategorizedPlaintiffs hired an attorney in order to purchase a condominium. Unfortunately, the condo was subject to mold and water damage. Razdolskaya v Lyubarsky 2018 NY Slip Op 02817 Decided on April 25, 2018 Appellate Division, Second Department starts out with an analysis of why there is a fraud claim. It ends with an analysis of why the attorney… Continue Reading
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in UncategorizedAttorneys irritate people all the time, and irritated people act. Dawson v Adam Leitman Bailey P.C. 2018 NY Slip Op 30224(U) February 8, 2018 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 152112/2017 Judge: Robert D. Kalish is an example of how irritation can lead to litigation which fails. “Dawson alleges that he resided from August 29, 2015, to ·August 28,… Continue Reading
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in UncategorizedA recurring theme in legal malpractice litigation is discovery of communications between the client and attorneys. While the attorney-client privilege is waived in a legal malpractice setting between plaintiff-client and defendant-attorney, the question still comes up with subsequent attorneys. Different from the attorney-client privilege is the common-interest privilege. Saint Annes Dev. Co. v Russ 2018 NY Slip… Continue Reading
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in Legal Malpractice Cases,UncategorizedPlaintiff sued under Judiciary Law § 487 and was promptly the subject of sanctions and dismissal. Supreme Court granted both, and an appeal ensued. In Liang v Wei Ji 2017 NY Slip Op 08361 Decided on November 29, 2017 Appellate Division, Second Department, the Court affirmed because plaintiff had previously been enjoined from starting any actions without prior permission. … Continue Reading
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in UncategorizedWeintraub v Petervary 2017 NY Slip Op 51595(U) Decided on November 16, 2017 Appellate Term, Second Department is an example of how lower courts over-determine cases in favor of the attorney and to the detriment of the client. Legal malpractice cases, we have argued in the past, are dismissed at a greater rate than in the general inventory… Continue Reading
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in Legal Malpractice Basics,UncategorizedLast week we discussed how the First Department differs in its handling of Judiciary Law § 487 cases. Here in Gorbatov v Tsirelman 2017 NY Slip Op 07979 Decided on November 15, 2017 Appellate Division, Second Department is a further lesson, this time from the Second Department. Conspicuously missing here is any language of delinquency. The Second Department… Continue Reading
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in Legal Malpractice Cases,UncategorizedO’Neal v Muchnick Golieb & Golieb, P.C. 2017 NY Slip Op 03125 [149 AD3d 636] April 25, 2017 Appellate Division, First Department is notable for several terse lessons. They were set forth in bullet fashion in the opinion: “The allegation that, while representing plaintiff in the assignment-of-lease negotiations, counsel secretly represented the counterparty so as to obtain favorable… Continue Reading
By Andrew Lavoott Bluestone on Posted in UncategorizedLegal malpractice cases traditionally hew to the Legal Malpractice – Breach of Contract – Breach of Fiduciary axis. Outlier cases add in some exotic causes of action. Gleyzerman v Law Offs. of Arthur Gershfeld & Assoc., PLLC 2017 NY Slip Op 07200 Decided on October 12, 2017 Appellate Division, First Department is a overbilling case, with multiple causes of… Continue Reading
