In the past six months, new life has been breathed into Judiciary law 487.  It may well be the oldest statute in Anglo-American jurisprudence.  Dating from1275  the statute provides that an attorney who is guilty of any deceit or collusion, may be guilty of a misdemeanor and held for treble damages.

Since the Court of…

In both Federal District Court and in State Court in New York attorneys have a "retaining lien" under Judiciary Law 475.  In Federal District Court the rule is set forth in Katz v. Image Innovations Holdings Inc., 06 Civ. 3707;Decided: May 27, 2009; District Judge John G. Koeltl

U.S. DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF…

The collapse of a hedge fund gives rise to a legal malpractice claim by various of the investors.  The hedge fund impresario is convicted of securities fraud, and then turns around to help the investors sue the funds’ attorney. 

In Eurycleia Partners, LP v Seward & Kissel, LLP ; 2009 NY Slip Op 04299…

Aside from the precatory "You’ve got to be crazy…", 

" on occasion, true mental incompetence does collide with questions of legal malpractice, and in this case, criminal conviction.  In ALLEN WOLFSON, -v- AVRAHAM MOSKOWITZ,  08 Civ. 8796 (DLC);UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK’; 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45822;  May 29, 2009…

This recent Court of Appeals Case, Wyly v Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman, LLP
2009 NY Slip Op 03628 ; Decided on May 7, 2009 ; Court of Appeals  discusses the rights of a client to "its" case file for use in a later proceeding…which is often a legal malpractice action.  Wyley is the offshoot …

In Leone v Silver & Silver, LLP ; 2009 NY Slip Op 04204 ; Decided on May 26, 2009
Appellate Division, Second Department we see that merely settling a case does not deprive plaintiff of the right to sue the attorney, so long as the settlement was effectively compelled by the acts of the target…

Slip and fall cases are a major part of the personal injury oeuvre, and personal injury litigation remains a large part of the world of the bar.  Accordingly the laws of personal injury, and specifically those relating to trips and falls are widely known and highly important.  Mistakes and bad outcomes in personal injury litigation…

Some time ago the legislature passed a statute of limitations for legal malpractice, overruling the Court of Appeals which permitted both a 3 year and a 6 year statute.  Of course, now there is but a single 3 year statute.  At the same time, it was determined that no matter whether one calls the attorney’s…