Not that many legal malpractice cases get tried, and fewer even in Civil Court, New York County.  here is one that went to defendant.  Milgram Thomajan & Lee, P.C. v Golden Gate Petroleum, P.C.    2014 NY Slip Op 24063 [43 Misc 3d 68]. 

"The action arises out of plaintiff’s representation of the first-named defendant, a petroleum importer, in connection with an administrative protest of a customs duty assessment imposed on a shipment of gasoline and related chemicals. The jury’s verdict, finding that plaintiff did not commit malpractice in its underlying representation of defendant, was not against the weight of the evidence. The trial evidence, fairly interpreted, supports the jury’s evident rejection of defendant’s contention that but for plaintiff’s advice, defendant would have prevailed in the underlying customs protest, one which, the record shows, defendant elected to pursue in the face of plaintiff’s frank admonition that it "may prove a tough fight, the outcome of which cannot be predicted with any certainty." The evidence, including the conflicting expert OPINION TESTIMONY, permitted the jury to conclude that, in advising defendant, the lawyers of plaintiff law firm did not disregard settled law (see Darby & Darby v VSI Intl., 95 NY2d 308, 313 [2000]) and would have permitted a jury finding that the advice itself was not the proximate cause of defendant’s losses (see Chadbourne & Parke v HGK Asset Mgt., 295 AD2d 208, 209 [2002]). And while defendant posits several alternative courses that plaintiff might have pursued in the underlying administrative protest, it FAILED to show that the tactical decisions made by the firm did not constitute "proper strategic legal decision-making" (Taylor v Paskoff & Tamber, LLP, 102 AD3d 446, 448 [2013]), or so the jury reasonably could find. Nor was the jury’s consideration of the LEGAL MALPRACTICE issue shown to have been compromised in any way [*2]by the form{**43 Misc 3d at 70} of the verdict sheet, particularly when that document is viewed in the context of the charge as a whole (see Plunkett v Emergency Med. Serv. of N.Y. City, 234 AD2d 162, 163 [1996]).

The record discloses no evidentiary error warranting reversal. The out-of-court statements made by defendant’s (now) deceased CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER were admissible under the "speaking agent" exception to the hearsay rule (see Loschiavo v Port Auth. of N.Y. & N.J., 58 NY2d 1040, 1041 [1983]). Further, in light of the voluminous evidence considered by the jury, including over 60 trial exhibits introduced by defendant, any error in the exclusion of the two documents now complained of by defendant would have been harmless (see Ramkison v New York City Hous. Auth., 269 AD2d 256, 256 [2000]).

We note finally that the court properly directed a verdict in favor of plaintiff on its main claim for unpaid legal services, a claim which, as one abandoned by plaintiff’s trustee in BANKRUPTCY, revested in plaintiff at the close of the bankruptcy proceeding (see Dynamics Corp. of Am. v Marine Midland Bank-N.Y., 69 NY2d 191, 195-196 [1987]; Culver v Parsons, 7 AD3d 931, 932 [2004])."

Student – Plaintiff is charged with harassing a Cornell professor, and loses at the disciplinary and College level.  Student then sues attorney for legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract.  Case is lost simply because Plaintiff does not allege and show how the attorney could have won the Article 78 case showing that the University was arbitrary and capricious.

"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 and issued a penalty, which was, apart from a slight modification, affirmed by the University’s Review Board. Plaintiff then retained defendant Arthur Schwartz to represent her in a CPLR article 78 proceeding challenging the University’s determination. In addition, Schwartz represented plaintiff in a Title IX claim (see 20 USC § 1681 et seq.). After both of those matters were unsuccessful (Matter of Hyman v Cornell Univ., 82 AD3d 1309 [2011]; Hyman v Cornell Univ., 834 F Supp 2d 77 [2011]), plaintiff commenced the instant action against Schwartz, defendant Schwartz, Lichten & Bright, PC (hereinafter the law firm)—Schwartz’s former and now dissolved law firm—and defendants Stuart Lichten and Daniel Bright—his former partners—seeking damages for negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress and legal malpractice. In the same complaint, plaintiff also challenged an arbitration award made in Schwartz’s favor in connection with a fee dispute between Schwartz and plaintiff."

"However, defendants correctly argue that Supreme Court should have granted their motion to dismiss the legal malpractice claim. It is well established that, "[i]n order to sustain a claim for legal malpractice, a plaintiff must establish both that the defendant attorney failed to exercise the ordinary reasonable skill and knowledge commonly possessed by a member of the legal profession which results in actual damages to a plaintiff, and that the plaintiff would have succeeded on the merits of the underlying action but for the attorney’s negligence" (Leder v Spiegel, 9 NY3d 836, 837 [2007], cert denied sub nom. Spiegel v Rowland, 552 US 1257 [2008] [internal quotation marks and citation omitted]; accord Alaimo v McGeorge, 69 AD3d 1032, [*3]1034 [2010]; see Kreamer v Town of Oxford, 96 AD3d 1128, 1128-1129 [2012]; see also MacDonald v Guttman, 72 AD3d 1452, 1454-1455 [2010]; Bixby v Somerville, 62 AD3d 1137, 1139 [2009]). Here, although the complaint is replete with allegations of Schwartz’s alleged failures to use reasonable and ordinary skill in connection with both of plaintiff’s underlying claims, it contains no allegation that, but for these alleged failures, plaintiff would have been successful on either claim.[FN2] Therefore, even if we accept the allegations as true and liberally construe the complaint to allege negligent representation by Schwartz (see Leon v Martinez, 84 NY2d 83, 87-88 [1994]; Moulton v State of New York, 114 AD3d 115, 119 [2013]; Scheffield v Vestal Parkway Plaza, LLC, 102 AD3d 992, 993 [2013]), the allegations are insufficient to make out a prima facie case of legal malpractice (see Kreamer v Town of Oxford, 96 AD3d at 1128; MacDonald v Guttman, 72 AD3d at 1455)."

Client hires attorney.  Attorney successfully bails out just before trial.  There is no expert.  Medical malpractice case is dismissed because there is no expert.  Attorney asserts a lien, and then when the lien is granted, defends a legal malpractice case on the basis of the lien.  Is this fair?

Snyder v Brown Chiari, LLP   2014 NY Slip Op 02363 [116 AD3d 1116]  April 3, 2014  Appellate Division, Third Department finds for plaintiff, but only because when the lien was litigated,plaintiff was precluded from arguing malpractice.

"Defendants urge as an alternative ground for affirmance the collateral estoppel argument that they unsuccessfully asserted before Supreme Court. They premise this argument upon the fact that Supreme Court permitted their lien on plaintiff’s file and the line of cases which hold that "where a client does not prevail in an action brought by counsel for the value of professional services, a subsequent action by the client for malpractice is barred by collateral estoppel" (Thruway Invs. v O’Connell & Aronowitz, 3 AD3d 674, 676 [2004] see e.g. Zito v Fischbein Badillo Wagner Harding, 80 AD3d 520, 521 [2011]). Here, at the appearance regarding the lien on the file, plaintiff was, as stated by Supreme Court in its decision, "expressly prevented by [Supreme] Court from asserting any claims relative to the actual services performed by [d]efendants, and strictly limited to a discussion of the accuracy of the amount of the disbursements made by [d]efendants on her behalf." We agree with Supreme Court’s characterization of the lien dispute and, under such circumstances, further agree with Supreme Court that plaintiff did not previously have a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue of whether defendants were negligent so as to support invoking collateral estoppel (see generally Buechel v Bain, 97 NY2d 295, 303-304 [2001], cert denied 535 US 1096 [2002]). The remaining arguments, to the extent properly before us, are academic or without merit."

Suing an attorney for his handling of a medical malpractice case is among the most complicated cases in law.  Plaintiff must prove the negligence of two professionals and must do so with the use of experts in two separate fields.  One common scenario is the attorney who bails out just before trial, or at summary judgment time, because there is no expert.

Snyder v Brown Chiari, LLP  2014 NY Slip Op 02363 [116 AD3d 1116]  April 3, 2014  Appellate Division, Third Department is one case where plaintiff found an expert who had actually reviewed the file.

"In late 2002, plaintiff underwent a surgical procedure and shortly thereafter developed complications that resulted in three further surgeries, none of which was successful. She retained defendants, which commenced a medical malpractice action in March 2004 against the physician who had performed the initial surgery as well as that physician’s partnership. In late February 2007, and with a trial date scheduled for early March 2007, defendants attempted to withdraw as counsel to plaintiff because, among other things, an expert had not been retained. Supreme Court (Falvey, J.) denied defendants’ motion to withdraw as counsel to plaintiff, granted a motion by the defendants in the medical malpractice action to preclude plaintiff from offering expert testimony at trial and, because a prima facie case could not be established without expert proof, dismissed the medical malpractice action. When plaintiff attempted to obtain her file from defendants, Supreme Court permitted a lien for defendants’ disbursements of $7,500.45.

Plaintiff commenced the instant action in early 2009 alleging, among other things, legal malpractice. Defendants answered and eventually made a motion to dismiss pursuant to CPLR 3211 asserting various grounds including collateral estoppel and failure to state a cause of action. Supreme Court (Sherman, J.) found no merit in the collateral estoppel argument; however, the court determined that plaintiff failed to establish the legal malpractice claim because of a lack of proof that she would have been successful in the underlying medical malpractice action. Finding the remaining causes of action duplicative of the legal malpractice claim, the court dismissed the [*2]complaint. Plaintiff appeals.

Plaintiff stated a cause of action for legal malpractice. Elements of such a cause of action include "establish[ing] both that the defendant attorney failed to exercise the ordinary reasonable skill and knowledge commonly possessed by a member of the legal profession which results in actual damages to a plaintiff, and that the plaintiff would have succeeded on the merits of the underlying action ‘but for’ the attorney’s negligence" (AmBase Corp. v Davis Polk & Wardwell, 8 NY3d 428, 434 [2007] [citations omitted] accord Alaimo v McGeorge, 69 AD3d 1032, 1034 [2010]). In the procedural context of a motion to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action, "the court must afford the pleadings a liberal construction, take the allegations of the complaint as true and provide plaintiff the benefit of every possible inference" (EBC I, Inc. v Goldman, Sachs & Co., 5 NY3d 11, 19 [2005]). "Whether the plaintiff will ultimately be successful in establishing those allegations is not part of the calculus" (Landon v Kroll Lab. Specialists, Inc., 22 NY3d 1, 6 [2013] [internal quotation marks and citations omitted]) and "a court may freely consider affidavits submitted by the plaintiff to remedy any defects in the complaint" (Leon v Martinez, 84 NY2d 83, 88 [1994]).

Here, plaintiff submitted, among other things, an affidavit and attached memorandum from a physician licensed in New York. This physician had been consulted by defendants in 2003, and he produced his memorandum from such time which set forth in ample detail for purposes of opposing a motion to dismiss that plaintiff’s surgeon deviated from appropriate care. His affidavit reaffirmed that he believed there was malpractice in the treatment of plaintiff by her surgeon and, further, stated that he had been available to testify at the scheduled 2007 trial, but was never contacted by defendants. Such proof, together with the detailed allegations in the complaint, state a cause of action."

Very common to legal malpractice litigation is a dismissal of contract causes of action as duplicative of the negligence claim.  Postiglione v Castro  2014 NY Slip Op 05527
Decided on July 30, 2014  Appellate Division, Second Department is an example of how a contract cause of action survives.

"In the order appealed from dated March 21, 2012, the Supreme Court granted the defendants’ motion pursuant to CPLR 3211(a) to dismiss the complaint in its entirety. As relevant to this appeal, the Supreme Court granted those branches of the defendants’ motion which were to dismiss the breach of contract and fraud causes of action as duplicative of the legal malpractice cause of action, which it dismissed as barred by the statute of limitations.

The plaintiff moved pursuant to CPLR 5015(a) to vacate the order dated March 21, 2012, "in the interests of justice," and pursuant to CPLR 3025(b) for leave to amend the complaint to assert only two causes of action—one alleging breach of contract and one alleging fraud. In the order appealed from dated September 13, 2012, the Supreme Court denied the plaintiff’s motion.

As a general rule, where a cause of action alleging breach of contract or fraud arises from the same facts as a legal malpractice cause of action and does not allege distinct damages, the breach of contract or fraud cause of action must be dismissed as duplicative of the legal malpractice cause of action (see Financial Servs. Veh. Trust v Saad, 72 AD3d 1019, 1020; Kvetnaya v Tylo, 49 AD3d 608; Iannucci v Kucker & Bruh, LLP, 42 AD3d 436, 437; Town of Wallkill v Rosenstein, 40 AD3d 972; Town of N. Hempstead v Winston & Strawn, LLP, 28 AD3d 746, 749; Daniels v Lebit, 299 AD2d 310). Here, the plaintiff’s breach of contract cause of action makes no claim that the defendants provided inadequate representation in his legal matters. Rather, the plaintiff claims, among other things, that the defendants over-billed him and took money from his escrow account without his permission, in violation of the retainer agreement. Under these circumstances, the plaintiff’s breach of contract cause of action was not duplicative of the legal malpractice cause of action, and should not have been dismissed on that basis (see Loria v Cerniglia, 69 AD3d 583; Boglia v Greenberg, 63 AD3d 973, 976; Ideal Steel Supply Corp. v Beil, 55 AD3d 544, 545-546).

Similarly, the cause of action alleging fraud makes no claim of inadequate or negligent legal representation. Rather, the fraud cause of action essentially alleges that the defendants made material misrepresentations concerning the money that the plaintiff owed them. Thus, the fraud cause of action was not duplicative of the legal malpractice cause of action and should not have been dismissed on that ground."

Jacoby & Meyers and Finkelstein & Partners are players in the personal injury big leagues.  Finkelstein & Partners may be the biggest law firm in NY state.  In any event, they deal with a huge number of personal injury cases.  One of the biggest concerns in personal injury litigation is who will pay for the expenses as the cases move forward.  In Flomenhaft v Finkelstein  2014 NY Slip Op 51121(U)  Decided on July 22, 2014  Supreme Court, New York County   Jaffe, J. we see one attorney who moved to J&M and then left in a battle all over the state.  For the most part, the claims of legal malpractice and libel have something to do with litigation funding, and how it affects the plaintiffs.

"On May 2, 2005, non-party Joel Harrison retained defendant Finkelstein & Partners, LLP (F & P) to represent him in a personal injury case. Soon thereafter, F & P brought the action in Broome County Supreme Court. Plaintiff, who had moved his practice to defendant Jacoby & Meyers, LLP (J & M) in April 2009, was also named counsel to F & P, and was assigned as lead trial attorney on the Harrison matter.

Eight months later, on December 28, 2009, plaintiff abruptly resigned from J & M. Shortly thereafter, on January 25, 2010, Harrison discharged F & P and retained plaintiff to [*2]represent him on the personal injury matter.

In March 2010, J & M commenced an action against plaintiff and his law firm in Orange County, based on a loan it had allegedly made to him. That action was transferred to this court (Index No. 403550/10).

On June 16, 2010, Harrison discharged plaintiff and re-retained F & P on his personal injury action.

On August 6, 2010, during the pendency of the personal injury action, Harrison, represented by F & P, brought an action in Broome County Supreme Court against plaintiff, advancing in his verified complaint causes of action for conversion, breach of fiduciary duty, legal malpractice, and fraud, based on allegations that plaintiff had induced him to obtain litigation funding for the personal injury action and then converted the proceeds to his own use. (NYSCEF 9).

"By notice of motion, defendants move pursuant to CPLR 3211(a) for an order dismissing counts one and two of the complaint, striking the request for punitive damages, and imposing sanctions. Plaintiff opposes and by cross motion moves for an order granting him leave to amend his summons with notice and/or complaint."

"It is well-settled that "a statement made in the course of legal proceedings is absolutely privileged if it is at all pertinent to the litigation." (Sexter, at 171). The privilege "applies to statements made in or out of court, on or off the record, and regardless of the motive with which they were made." (El Jamal v Weil, 116 AD3d 732 [2d Dept 2014]; Sexter, 38 AD3d at 171). The privilege does not extend to statements that are not pertinent to the proceedings. (Youmans v Smith, 153 NY 214, 219 [1897]). Courts are liberal in applying the privilege even where the statement is only possibly pertinent to the proceedings "because the due administration of justice requires that the rights of clients should not be imperiled by subjecting their legal advisers to the constant fear of suits for libel or slander." (Youmans, 153 NY at 219-220).

Here, accepting as true the allegations contained in the complaint, as I must on this motion, as the defamatory statement is alleged to have been made by Finkelstein to Harrison the day before Harrison was to be deposed in his action against plaintiff, it was made in the course of a legal proceeding, a proposition not challenged by plaintiff. And, as the statement pertains to the allegations set forth in that legal proceeding, it is absolutely privileged."

AQ Asset Mgt., LLC v Levine   2014 NY Slip Op 05244   Decided on July 10, 2014  Appellate Division, First Department  is a big commercial case with lots of overspill into legal malpractice and claims of Judiciary Law 487 violations. 

"By an amended stock purchase agreement (SPA) effective December 9, 2005, defendants Habsburg and Patrizzi (together the Sellers) agreed to sell half of the shares in a group of companies (the Antiquorum entities) to Artist House Holdings, Inc. (Artist House), predecessor to plaintiff AQ Asset Management, LLC (AQ)[FN1]. The Antiquorum entities included plaintiffs Antiquorum, S.A. (ASA) and Antiquorum USA, Inc. (AUSA). Defendant Michael Levine, an attorney, provided legal counsel to the Sellers, drafted the SPA and other transaction documents, and served as the escrow agent for the deal. Plaintiff Evan Zimmermann, also an attorney, helped broker the transaction and is alleged by the Sellers to have been their legal counsel throughout.

The SPA provided that the Sellers would receive $30 million dollars in cash, as well as proceeds from the sale of certain inventory held by the Antiquorum entities. In order to pay the book value of the inventory, the SPA provided that ASA was to execute a promissory note obligating it to pay, to an unspecified third party, the sum of 16 million Swiss Francs (CHF) within six months of the SPA’s execution date. The SPA further provided that, "[a]lternatively, Patrizzi may become personally responsible [for payment of the CHF 16 million] to any Stockholder which is entitled thereto."

 

"Patrizzi alleges that Levine and Zimmermann purposely misrepresented the contents of the SPDA to induce him to sign it. According to Patrizzi, because he does not fully comprehend written English, he did not read the document and instead relied on Levine and Zimmermann to inform him of its contents. Patrizzi alleges that Levine and Zimmermann falsely told him that Zimmermann would receive Patrizzi’s shares after a period of three years. The SPDA, however, states that the shares would be transferred to an entity jointly owned by Patrizzi and Zimmermann without a three-year delay. Patrizzi further alleges that Levine and Zimmermann did not tell him that the SPDA gave Zimmermann rights to half of Patrizzi’s share of the inventory sale proceeds, or that Levine had an economic interest in part of those monies. Finally, Patrizzi claims that he was never told that he should retain independent counsel."

"The Sellers contend that after the $2 million was transferred to Levine’s escrow account, Artist House, Levine and Zimmermann wrongfully conspired to oust the Sellers from ASA. At a shareholders meeting held in August 2007, Artist House and Zimmermann relied on the SPDA’s purported grant to Zimmermann to vote half of Patrizzi’s shares. Using this power, Artist House and Zimmermann gained control of the company, Patrizzi and Verhoeven were removed from the board of directors, and Zimmermann ultimately became the new CEO.

In January 2008, Levine wrote to Habsburg, Patrizzi, Zimmermann and Artist House asking whether they consented or objected to his returning the $2 million to ASA. Levine stated that he would not release the funds absent consent of all necessary parties or a judicial direction to do so. Both Patrizzi and Habsburg wrote back to Levine objecting to release of the money. In August 2010, Zimmermann notified Levine that the $2 million had nothing to do with the sale of inventory and requested its return to ASA. In October 2010, Levine released the $2 million to ASA and/or Zimmermann.

"The motion court correctly dismissed the ninth and tenth causes of action in the fourth-party complaint alleging legal malpractice against Levine, and the seventeenth counterclaim alleging legal malpractice against Zimmermann, as barred by the three-year statute of limitations (see CPLR 214[6]; Champlin v Pellegrin, 111 AD3d 411 [1st Dept 2013]). These claims accrued no later than August 2007, when the Sellers became aware of Levine’s and Zimmermann’s alleged betrayal and any attorney-client relationship had come to an end. Since the claims were not brought until, at the earliest, December 2010, when this action was commenced, they are untimely."

"The sixth interpleader counterclaim and seventh cause of action in the fourth-party complaint, which allege that Levine violated Judiciary Law § 487 by bringing his interpleader claims without informing the court of his purported business relationship with Zimmermann, were properly dismissed. The absence of such information in Levine’s interpleader pleading does not rise to the level of "withholding of crucial information from a court" or "conceal[ing] from a court . . . a fact . . . required by law to [be] disclose[d]" (see Melcher v Greenberg Traurig, LLP, 102 AD3d 497 [1st Dept 2013], revd on other grounds __ NY3d __ [2014])."

 

In legal malpractice cases there is often a long latency period.  In transactional work, that might translate to the time between a deal and the day it goes sour.  That’s exactly the situation in Elstein v Phillips Lytle, LLP   2013 NY Slip Op 05132 [108 AD3d 1073]   July 5, 2013  Appellate Division, Fourth Department.  The Appellate Division, 4th Department determined that the statute had already run when the case was commenced.

"In this legal malpractice action, plaintiffs appeal from an order granting the motion of Phillips Lytle, LLP and Albert M. Mercury (defendants) seeking dismissal of the complaint against them as time-barred. Plaintiffs contend that Supreme Court erred in determining the accrual date of their action, for legal malpractice. We reject that contention. " ‘A cause of action for legal malpractice accrues when the malpractice is committed’ " (Amendola v Kendzia, 17 AD3d 1105, 1108 [2005]; see Glamm v Allen, 57 NY2d 87, 93 [1982]). "In most cases, this accrual time is measured from the day an actionable injury occurs, ‘even if the aggrieved party is then ignorant of the wrong or injury’ " (McCoy v Feinman, 99 NY2d 295, 301 [2002], quoting Ackerman v Price Waterhouse, 84 NY2d 535, 541 [1994]). " ‘What is important is when the malpractice was committed, not when the client discovered it’ " (id., quoting Shumsky v Eisenstein, 96 NY2d 164, 166 [2001]). Here, the alleged malpractice occurred no later than 2003, when plaintiff Daniel Elstein completed his acquisition of plaintiff Hilton Enterprises, Inc. (Hilton) from defendant Alfred D. Spaziano. Indeed, there is no indication in the record that defendants represented plaintiffs after that date. This action was not commenced until approximately eight years later, on March 4, 2011, and is thus time-barred under the applicable three-year statute of limitations (see CPLR 214 [6]).

We reject plaintiffs’ contention that they were unable to sue defendants for malpractice until March 7, 2008, when the judgment was entered against Hilton, inasmuch as that is when they sustained an actionable injury. As the Court of Appeals has made clear, a malpractice claim becomes actionable when the plaintiff’s damages become "sufficiently calculable" (McCoy, 99 [*2]NY2d at 305; see Ackerman, 84 NY2d at 541-542), and, here, plaintiffs’ damages arising from the alleged legal malpractice were sufficiently calculable in January 2007, when plaintiffs learned of the alleged malpractice, if not sooner. Present—Scudder, P.J., Peradotto, Lindley, Sconiers and Whalen, JJ."

Portilla v Law Offs. of Arcia & Flanagan  2013 NY Slip Op 08606 [112 AD3d 901]  December 26, 2013  Appellate Division, Second Department  tells us that the golden rule for defendants wishing to have a legal malpractice case dismissed on summary judgment is:

"In an action to recover damages for legal malpractice, a plaintiff must demonstrate that an attorney failed to exercise the ordinary reasonable skill and knowledge commonly possessed by a member of the legal profession and that the breach of such duty was the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s damages (see Rudolf v Shayne, Dachs, Stanisci, Corker & Sauer, 8 NY3d 438, 442 [2007]; Verdi v Jacoby & Meyers, LLP, 92 AD3d 771, 772 [2012]; Goldberg v Lenihan, 38 AD3d 598 [2007]). Proximate cause is established by showing that the plaintiff would have succeeded in the underlying action or would not have incurred damages but for the attorney’s negligence (see Rudolf v Shayne, Dachs, Stanisci, Corker & Sauer, 8 NY3d at 442). Therefore, for a defendant in a legal malpractice case to succeed on a motion for summary judgment, evidence must be presented in admissible form establishing that the plaintiff is unable to prove at least one of these essential elements (see Verdi v Jacoby & Meyers, LLP, 92 AD3d at 772; Goldberg v Lenihan, 38 AD3d at 598)."

"Here, the appellants failed to establish their prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law. The appellants, who did not dispute that they were negligent in suing the wrong party, failed to establish, prima facie, that the plaintiff was unable to prove that he would have succeeded in his underlying personal injury action (see Gamer v Ross, 49 AD3d 598 [2008]; J-Mar Serv. Ctr., Inc. v Mahoney, Connor & Hussey, 14 AD3d 482, 483 [2005]). "

The story has a potential for pathos.  Attorney working for a law firm receives fee payments meant for the firm, and treats them as if a loan.  Why?  He has Parkinson’s disease, and perhaps needed the money.  The payments continue until the law firm moves to withdraw as attorney because of non-payment.Client sues for legal malpractice and it all comes to light.   Attorney now is suspended until the disciplinary matter is over.  That may be a long long time.

Matter of Hornstein  2014 NY Slip Op 05370  Decided on July 17, 2014  Appellate Division, First Department  Per Curiam

"At his September 25, 2013 deposition before the Committee, respondent, who was represented by counsel, admitted that between 2010 and 2011 he diverted approximately 10 payments (via checks) totaling approximately $83,000 made by a client, which were intended as payments of legal fees to his law firm in connection with a zoning matter respondent had been handling for the client. Rather than remit the funds to his firm, respondent used the funds for his own personal purposes, mostly for expenses related to his Parkinson’s disease. Respondent also admitted that he failed to declare the $83,000 as taxable income because he considered it to be more in the "nature of a loan" which he intended to pay back.

Respondent’s firm was unaware that the client had paid respondent directly, and in May 2012 the firm filed a motion asking to withdraw as attorney of record in another matter it was handling for the client in light of his total unpaid balance for legal fees and disbursements. The firm only learned of the client’s payments to respondent in July 2012 after the client had commenced an action against respondent and the firm for, inter alia, legal malpractice, at which time the firm confronted respondent. Shortly thereafter, respondent left the firm and self-reported his diversion of legal fees to the Committee. In December 2012, respondent reimbursed the firm in full.

"The record sufficiently establishes that respondent repeatedly misappropriated and/or converted law-firm funds and used the funds without permission for his own personal purposes. Further, this Court has issued interim suspensions under similar circumstances to those here (see e.g. Matter of Getreu, 113 AD3d 148 [1st Dept 2013] [interim suspension for, inter alia, misappropriation and/or conversion of client funds for own personal purposes based on, inter alia, substantial admissions under oath]; Matter of Gibson, 104 AD3d 228 [1st Dept 2013] [same]; Matter of Armenakis, 58 AD3d 222 [1st Dept 2008][interim suspension based on admission during deposition to, inter alia, conversion of escrow funds]; Matter of Wertis, 307 AD2d 15 [1st Dept 2003] [interim suspension for, inter alia, misappropriation of trust funds based on, inter alia, substantial admissions under oath]).

Accordingly, the Committee’s motion is granted and respondent suspended from the practice of law, effective immediately, and until such time as disciplinary matters pending before the Committee have been concluded, and until further order of this Court.."