The elements of legal malpractice are well settled, as the Appellate Divisions write. One of the triumvirate is proximate cause. We’ve written in the past about the difference between "the" proximate cause and "a" proximate cause, see: Barnett v. Schwartz, 47 AD3d 197 (2d Dept,20070
Here is a case Silberman v Reisman, Abramson, …
New York, being in the northeast , has a rich history of snow & ice cases. A whole series of rules have arisen which accompany and inform the law of accidents on snow & ice. As one example, the precipitation must have already ended for a case to be viable. The difference between misfeasance and nonfeasance also applies. Here…
Court calendaring…being in court on all assigned conferences, motions, hearings, appearances , is the most frequent source of legal malpractice cases. Right behind are the late filings, blown statutes, and missed deadlines for documents.
Here, a big law managing clerk discusses a calendar system for a world wide law firm. Its hard to believe…
In this Court of Appeals Decision Judge Smith goes as far back as Judge Cardozo to discuss the basics in this legal malpractice case. As a digression, Justice Benjamin Cardozo, who served both on the New York Court of Appeals and the US Supreme Court was fascinating. "Born in New York City to Albert and…
Judiciary Law 487 is a statute which defines a misdemeanor and creates a private cause of action, with treble damages,
§487. Misconduct by attorneys.
An attorney or counselor who:
1. Is guilty of any deceit or collusion, or consents to any
deceit or collusion, with intent to deceive the court or any party; or,…
Sometimes things go from bad to worse, and then decend even further in legal malpractice litigation. Here is an example. Plaintiff was injured, went to attorney 1 who settled the case without asking plaintiff, then went to attorney 2, then sued attorney 1 and 2.
"Sturgill, 46, was fishing with a co-worker from the Maryland…
Perez Hilton, DJ Samantha and Legal Malpractice. If any further evidence on the ubiquitous nature of legal malpractice was needed, this story seals the issue. In the high stakes celebrity gossip blogworld, the DJ sued the Blogger Perez and lost. The DJ promptly was sued by her attorney Martin Garbus and sued him for legal malpractice. Here…
Attorneys deal with issues that have big numbers attached to them. Here is a story about an Indiana law firm that got into a big problem. The article does not say how the negotiation went bad, but the end result was that the law firm assigned its bad faith claim against its own insurer to…
One of the more interesting aspects of legal malpractice is its utter ubiquity. Look at any institution and lurking behind it may be a case of legal malpractice. It’s not surprising, as attorneys are everywhere involved in transactional or litigative work. A favorite New Yorker cartoon shows a 5 year old whose ice cream cone…
Plaintiff obtains a $ 1.2 million dollar verdict and pursues defendant to Florida, trying to collect the judgment. Defendant dies, and plaintiff’s attorneys retain Florida counsel to go after the estate. Here in Whalen v DeGraff, Foy, Conway, Holt-Harris & Mealey ,2008 NY Slip Op 06342 [53 AD3d 912] ,July 17, 2008 ,Appellate Division…
