Here is a story which has happened all too often in the past 20 years.
“The plaintiff and the defendant, an attorney licensed in New York, met in or about 2001, when the plaintiff sought the defendant’s legal representation. The parties established a business relationship, which later evolved into a friendship. In 2007, upon the…
Client hires attorney to make sure that a large loan is handled correctly and that the loan transaction would be legal, valid, binding, and enforceable. The loan became noncollectable. When the motions for summary judgment were filed, Supreme Court granted summary judgment to Plaintiff and denied summary judgment to defendants. The Appellate Division disagreed.
Quantum …
Fidelity Natl. Tit. Ins. Co. v Smith Buss & Jacobs, LLP 2015 NY Slip Op 02058 Decided on March 17, 2015
Appellate Division, First Department brings us the question of whether the law firm aided and abetted fraud, was negligent or simply made a big mistake. The Appellate Division left that question open on a…
Leser v Multi Capital Group LLC 2015 NY Slip Op 50272(U) Decided on March 2, 2015 Supreme Court, Kings County
Demarest, J. reads like a poorly conceived story of corporate greed. It does teach several important lessons in legal malpractice. The first is how essential privity of contract between the attorney and the client remains. …
Client has a problem selling his house in upstate New York because many many years before, his father did not record the deed. He makes a deal with buyer and agrees to a reduction in price if he cannot present good title. He hires an attorney to quiet title, and asks whether it can be…
Armstrong v Blank Rome LLP 2015 NY Slip Op 01755 Decided on March 3, 2015 Appellate Division, First Department is an example of a well-pled 487 claim. It remains in the case after a motion to dismiss. Note the small zinger at the end of the decision regarding “appealability.”
“The complaint states a claim for…
Greenberg v Hertzfeld & Rubin, P.C. 2015 NY Slip Op 30268(U) February 25, 2015 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 650960/2014 Judge: Debra A. James is a good example of the microscopic nature of Supreme Court’s review of a legal malpractice complaint for standing and retainer contract issues. The case involves a web of…
Attorneys rely upon their legal malpractice insurance for stability and backup. Clients rely upon the attorney’s legal malpractice insurance for safety and reassurance that when their human attorney makes a mistake, there will be someone who steps in and protects them. What happens when the insurance company turns rogue?
The first set of attorneys obtained dismissal in 2014. Hyman v. Schwartz, 2014 NY Slip Op 01362 [114 AD3d 1110]. “In August 2007, plaintiff—then a Cornell University graduate student—was charged with violating the University’s Campus Code of Conduct by allegedly harassing a professor. Following disciplinary proceedings, the University’s Hearing Board sustained the harassment charge…
USHA SOHA Terrace, LLC v Robinson Brog Leinwand Greene Genovese & Gluck, P.C. 2014 NY Slip Op 31813(U), July 9, 2014, Supreme Court, New York County , Judge: Melvin L. Schweitzer is a fairly typical Judiciary Law 487 case. It is a legal malpractice and Judiciary Law 487 case in which plaintiffs assert direct…
