What, exactly, is the standard by which legal malpractice proximate cause is measured?  Remember, legal malpractice is the sole area of the law in which an additional burden is placed upon the plaintiff:  the “but for” requirement.  New York State Workers’ Compensation Bd. v Program Risk Mgt., Inc.  2017 NY Slip Op 04184  Decided on…

Really, the numbers boggle.  Clients collectively lost a $3 Million tax deduction when one of the trustees, without telling anyone else, waived the claim.  A professional malpractice claim followed in 1993 Trust of Joan Cohen v Baum    2017 NY Slip Op 30894(U)  May 2, 2017  Supreme Court, New York County  Docket Number: 150058/2015  Judge: Shirley…

It seems that when the husband was injured, the defendant law firm sued for both him and the wife (in loss of consortium).  Years later it was said that the plaintiff signed a release for her “loss of services” claim.  She denies settling her portion of the case.  What happened?  Were they now divorced and…

In big financial transactions, big law firm 1 may often interact with big law firm 2 in the generation of loan documents, opinion letters and the such.  Their interaction, viz-a-viz the clients (on both sides) may yield significant risk the law firms.

Bloostein v Morrison Cohen LLP  2017 NY Slip Op 30833(U)  April 21, 2017  …

Last week we reported a cataclysmic event in Judiciary Law 487.  It was Magistrate Scott’s report and recommendation  in Bounkhoun v. Barnes, 15-cv-631A. District Judge Richard Arcara is presiding over the case.  He wrote:  “Where does all of the above analysis leave plaintiff? Plaintiff has pled that defendants ignored her desire to settle…

We wrote about this case last week.  Today the NYLJ writes an article.  What is this all about, and is it an earthquake in the Judiciary Law § 487 world?  Joel Stashenko writes:  “A client dissatisfied with her attorneys’ work in a personal injury case cannot bring a legal misconduct claim under state Judiciary Law…

There can be no more classic case in legal malpractice than that of a passenger who is injured in a car accident, whose attorney fails to start the case.  Nevertheless, Atiencia v Pinczewski, 2017 NY Slip Op 01839  Decided on March 15, 2017  Appellate Division, Second Department was dismissed in Kings County.

The Appellate…