Lisa A. Serradilla, et al., Plaintiffs-Respondents, v.Lords Corporation, et al., Defendants, Ronald Vargo, et al., Defendants-Appellants.

SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT

2008 NY Slip Op 3092; 2008 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3037

April 8, 2008, Decided
April 8, 2008, Entered

This case involves plaintiffs who wanted…

22 NYCRR 1215 is a section of the law that governs attorney fees and engagement letters or retainer agreements. Until recently, courts have had differeing interpretations of the penalty when an attorney seeks fees but has no retainer agreement or engagement letter.

The cases were decided in three different ways: the first allowed the attorrney…

Here, from Anthony Lin of the NYLJ is a story of Donald Trump suing Morrison Cohen for legal malpractice.  Admirably, the story does not use the tag line, "you’re fired" anywhere.  Story:  Morrison Cohen represents Trump and a country club in a construction dispute and wins $ 2 million + along with attorney fees.  Now…

Continuing a trend in bankruptcy legal malpractice filings, here is the story, from NY Lawyer, of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman and Levene, Neale, Bender, Rankin & Brill  all being asked to disgorge fees and expenses.in the amounts of $4.2 million $1.2 million.

"The filings ask for compensatory damages of at least $11 million from…

In this Federal Case, Cobalt Multifamily Investors I, LLC v. Shapiro, 06 Civ. 6468, Decided March 28, 2008 ,District Judge Kimba M. Wood
U.S. DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK  

The Court ultimately determined that under the Wagoner rule trustee lacks standing, and that the bankruptcy trustee’s powers are limited.

"The court-appointed receiver (the…

Today’s Outside Counsel Column in the NYLJ by Garber and Vaughn does not mention or discuss legal malpractice.  Nevertheless, its thesis is highly relevant. 

"The 212 people exonerated by DNA evidence since 1989 have raised significant awareness about the criminal justice system’s failure to protect the innocent from wrongful conviction and have led to reform…

Here is a primer in how litigation can go sour, starting with one problem, leading to one after another.  This  NJ case discusses affidavits of merit in NJ legal malpractice cases, pro-se litigants and potential dispensations to them, and the statute of limitations in bankruptcy cases. SHIRLEY A. GOODHEART, v. STEVEN P. KARTZMAN, ESQ.; WACKS, …

This front page article from the NYLJ tells of a new type of legal malpractice case originating in a securities law suit, by a non-client, stretching the bounds of privity:

"A federal judge in Manhattan has ruled that a lawsuit brought under Oregon "Blue Sky" law may proceed against the New York law firm…