This story from Law.Com by Zusha Elinson tells of the aftermath of a $ 82 million Sony Patent case, with its reports of witness buying, false testimony and unreliable evidence.  From the Legal Malpractice perspective here is the nugget:

"Craig Thorner was the key witness in the Sony legal team’s effort to overturn an $82…

California corporation retains New York law firm to process a trademark application, which fails.  California plaintiff sues New York defendant  for legal malpractice in Federal District Court, SDNY.  Case is dismissed on jurisdictional basis.  Case is later brought in State Court in New York.  Does California or New York statute of limitations apply?

In Kat …

When may the representation of a client  end, what work does an attorney have to do for a contingent fee client, and how do legal malpractice considerations filter in?  Those questions are answered, in this context, in Matter of Mill Creek Phase 1 , Supreme Court, Kings County, Gerges, J.  Must a law firm perform appellate tasks…

We’re continuing to discuss the Howard S. Davis article in the New York Law Journal on April 17, 2009.  How does the written attorney retainer agreement relate to an attorney malpractice case?  Is the attorney responsible for handling an appeal, a wrongful death proceeding in Surrogate’s Court, a supplemental trust?   Is a fee earned when…

A bankruptcy trustee "steps into the shoes of the debtor" and obtains certain benefits from this power.  In Kirschner v. Grant Thornton we see that there are limits to that power. As Mark Hamblett writes in today’s NYLJ: "Southern District Judge Gerard E. Lynch ruled Tuesday that the case brought by liquidation trustee…

In Arkansas Department of Human Services v. Ahlborn, 547 U.S. 268, 126 S. Ct. 1752,  it was "held that from a $550,000 negotiated settlement in a case arising from a car accident, the Arkansas Medicaid authority could recover only $35,581.47 (about one-sixth) of the $215,645.30 it had paid for treatment of Heidi Ahlborn’s injuries, because…

A recent case Carl v. Cohen, Supreme Court, New York County, Justice Edmead 2009 NY Slip OP 30806(U), April 15, 2009 illustrates two distinct principals. The first is privilege and at issue communications which we discussed on April 15.  The second principal  is relation-back and the statute of limitations.

The statute of limitations in…

One of the more interesting memes in legal malpractice is the inevitable turnabout that is played out by the target attorney.  Once the advocate for plaintiff, the target attorney immediately turns around to show the holes in, and deficiencies of plaintiff’s position.  The attorney, chameleonlike, turns into plaintiff’s earlier opponent; at least the target attorney…