Sanctions? Always a fear. Costs, the same. In Kantrowitz, Goldhamer & Graifman, P.C. v Ayrovainen 2022 NY Slip Op 02256 Decided on April 6, 2022, Appellate Division, Second Department reversed a sanction.
“ORDERED that the decision and order is reversed insofar as appealed from, on the facts and in the exercise of discretion, with costs,…
When the attorney-client relationship ends, and continuous representation also ends are the subject of a significant number of decisions. The requirements for continuous representation, that there is actual work performed, that there is a continuing relationship of trust and confidence and that there is a shared understanding of the need for further work are all…
A recurring issue in legal malpractice is how to deal with the attorney who quits midstream. In medical malpractice cases that often comes just before the 2 1/2 year deadline. The attorney will take the case, work it up, and about 2 years into the representation tell the client that he/she is withdrawing. This leaves…
Ward v Klein 2022 NY Slip Op 02154 Decided on March 30, 2022 Appellate Division, Second Department gives an explanation of how and when a CPLR 205 recommencement of an action is viable and when it is not.
“The plaintiff hired the defendants to represent her in connection with certain disciplinary charges brought against her…
In Platt v Berkowitz 2022 NY Slip Op 01405 Decided on March 03, 2022 the Appellate Division, First Department wiped out two separate Judiciary Law § 487 claims, on on collateral estoppel and the other for lack of standing.
“The doctrine of collateral estoppel precludes plaintiff’s Judiciary Law § 487 claim against defendant Morrell Berkowitz,…
For a plaintiff’s legal malpractice attorney, the idea of an uncollectable trial verdict is abhorrent. The balance of this decision in Matter of Heller, 2022 NY Slip Op 01877, Decided on March 17, 2022, Appellate Division, First Department is similarly a disgrace.
“Respondent Mark J. Heller was admitted to the practice of law in…
When the attorneys represented the client, it prosecuted a condominium sale claim which was dismissed on statute of frauds grounds. However, in Komolov v Popik 2022 NY Slip Op 01966, Decided on March 22, 2022, the Appellate Division, First Department held that:
“Defendants failed to establish a prima facie case that they were not negligent,…
Privity of Contract is a doctrine which applies to legal malpractice representations even while it withers as a general principle in product liability cases and elsewhere. Loss of standing in Bankruptcy often comes up as well. In National Air Cargo, Inc. v Jenner & Block, LLP
2022 NY Slip Op 01900 Appellate Division, Fourth Department,…
Legal malpractice cases are dismissed at a statistically higher rate in legal malpractice cases than in other tort or contract cases. We believe that the reason is institutional. Subconsciously, attorney-judges give greater scrutiny to legal malpractice claims than they do to other claims, and because of this, attorneys are granted a higher bar to suit.…
Switching it all around, in Blank v Petrosyants 2022 NY Slip Op 01283
Decided on March 2, 2022 , the Appellate Division, Second Department reinstated the legal malpractice claims and dismissed the Breach of Contract claims, aligning the case structure to what is most often left after a CPLR 3211 motion: a good legal malpractice…
