"The defendants Alisa Schiff and Schiff & Skurnik, PLLC (hereinafter together the Schiff defendants), who served as the plaintiff’s attorney with respect to the drafting, and the execution by the plaintiff, of a contract to sell her home (hereinafter the contract of sale), and the defendant Michael Gross, who served as the plaintiff’s attorney for…

Ponzi schemes probably make bad law, in as much as everyone points the finger at everyone, and claims of fraud swirl through and through.  So it goes in Kimmel v Schon  2013 NY Slip Op 32318(U) September 26, 2013  Sup Ct, Kings County  Docket Number: 015633/2012  Judge: Bernard J. Graham.

A real estate purchase, a…

So many of these cases start over a fee. Here, relatives try to push relatives out of a house (we guess it was bequeathed to both), and clients end up spending about $ 50,000 to avoid being put in the street. Then, it comes time to pay the attorneys. This leads to an attorney fee…

What happens when plaintiff believes that defendant made a serious mistake, and some time has passed, but the underlying case has not yet concluded?  The statute of limitations and the requirement for "ascertainable damages" come in conflict.  Wait too long and the statute will have passed.  Start too early, and one sees a result similar…

Big corporate client goes to Big white shoe law firm and believes that the Big litigator there will take and handle the case. It does not happen. A lesser light handles the case, and the Big Corporate client is unhappy. Now what?

Matter of Matter of G.K. Las Vegas Ltd. Partnership v Boies Schiller & …

Client is sued for trade dress infringement.  "Trade Dress" are those non-functional aspects of an otherwise patented item.  Even after the patent runs out, "trade dress", or the appearance of a thing, remains protected.

Client had insurance that may have covered the law suit in which it was a defendant.  InUtica Cutlery Co. v …

Plaintiff sues law firm, which represented his former employer after he failed to get them to file a corrected opinion letter to facilitate removal of restrictive legends on his stock certificate. The mistake was in the opinion letter where the law firm mistakenly said it represented "Plaintiff" rather than the employer.

The Appellate Division affirms Judge…

Plaintiff is a 50% shareholder in a lucrative franchise operation, and at the end of a contract term both he and the entire franchise is faced with a difficult franchisor, which wants to upset the arrangement.  An attorney is hired, and not only does the eventual franchisor-franchisee litigation end badly, but the individual plaintiff is advised to…