This Appellate Division Case points up how the court treats just one too many mistakes. Default, followed by failure to oppose a motion followed by…. The court uses the phrase "pattern of willful default.
"To vacate the order dated February 18, 2005, entered upon the plaintiffs’ default in opposing the appellants’ motion pursuant to…
In a recent successful case, plaintiff was a large real estate management company. Plaintiff was involved in a 500 million dollar financing involving 3 NYC downtown buildings. The general counsel asked one of the multiple large firms whether "mortgage spreading" could be used to avoid payment of new mortgage tax. When told "no", the financing…
In this NJ case, [which the NJLJ calls "Bad Bedside Manner"], client has car accident. We’ll call him driver 1. Relative of driver 2 comes to hospital room and gets hired as attorney, He doesn’t tell driver 1 that he is related to Driver 2.
Here is the rest of the case.
SUPERIOR COURT OF…
Interview a represented client? Wrong! or perhaps Sometimes Wrong! or perhaps something else. Scott Greenfield writes about this evolving question today in his Simple Justice blog. Making waves in criminal law, testing the limits. The Tom Liotti story.
From today’s NYLJ by Anthony Lin: Attorney loses case on summary judgment, and tells client that he is not obliged to handle appeal. Client, chemical company, hires Nathan Dershowitz to handle appeal, which he does. At appellate level, case settles for $ 250,000.
Client pays Dershowitz a contingent fee, and original attorney sues client…
Anthony Davis, writing in the New York Law Journal [subscription] writes of the recent appellate decision concerning the absence of an engagement letter:
"• Failing to Provide an Engagement Letter. In Rubenstein v. Ganea, No. 24483/04, 2007 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 4267 (2d Dept. April 3, 2007), concerning an engagement letter as required by…
Here is an article from the NYLJ [subscription]:
"High-low agreements in trials for civil damages constitute settlements and should be enforced as such, an appeals court in Brooklyn has ruled in a case of first impression.
A unanimous panel of the Appellate Division, Second Department, ruling in Cunha v. Shapiro, 2006-07880, further concluded that a…
This week we have a raft of Texas Cases Here attorney was appointed to represent convict father in a parental rights termination case. Reading the facts, we believe that the court would have terminated the convict’s rights anyway, but it was really unhappy about the representation.
"In its opinion, the Court of Appeals noted…
While diversity of citizenship may be an appropriate base for jurisdiction, 42 USC 1983 is not, at least in Texas There, the attorney is not a state actor:
"In Combs v. City of Dallas, 3:06-CV-0074-P, 2006 U.S. Dist. Lexis 92445 (N.D. Tex. 2006), the client sought to sue the attorneys who represented him during…
As in New York, a criminal defendant may not successfully sue his criminal defense attorney absent a showing of "actual innocence"
Here is the Texas rule:
"In Butler v. Mason, No. 11-05-00273-CV, 2006 Tex. App. Lexis 10886 (Tex. App.—Eastland 2006), a convicted murderer attempted to bring a legal malpractice action against the attorney who…
