Some of the defendants ended up in Federal prison, and some ended up being sued.  Plaintiff ended up owing on a mortgage and not owning the house.  It’s all fallout of the mortgage crisis and now will go to trial.  Defendant attorney Dash was suspended for 5 years and the AD found that he co…

Caputo v Palermo, Palermo, & Tuohy, P.C.; 2013 NY Slip Op 31543(U) July 2, 2013
Sup Ct, Suffolk County Docket Number: 08-45481 Judge: Arthur G. Pitts is a case that could support a whole years trial/practice class.  It discusses in sharp detail issues of the standards of CPLR 3211, Legal Malpractice, Notices of Claim…

What would happen if it were easy to sue the other side’s attorney?  Presumably, after every litigation, the losing party would sue the winning party’s attorney.  This is not a desirable goal, because it would simply lead to double/treble endless litigation.  For this reason, the rule of privity requires that except in the most extreme…

An action to recover damages for malpractice, other than medical, dental or podiartric malpractice, regardless of whether the underlying theory is based in contract or in tort" is subject to a 3 year statute.  More importantly, unless fraud is truly independent of, and not incidental to the professional representation, it too will be subject to…

Plaintiff hires attorney 1 and after a while begins to court Attorney 2.  Meanwhile, back at home, no one is looking after affairs, and the litigations begin to unravel. Who is at fault?

Devonshire Surgical Facility, LLC v Law Offs. of Leo Tekiel,   2013 NY Slip Op 31441(U)
July 3, 2013  Supreme Court, New York…

From time to time we muse over whether legal malpractice cases are unfairly treated or exposed to a higher degree of scrutiny.  We wonder whether the fact that the rules for legal malpractice are structured by attorneys, are applied by attorneys and deal only with attorneys creates an institutional bias.

Barnave v Davis   2013…

Attorneys and clients have a unique compensation arrangement in contingent fees.  It’s almost unheard of for people to get paid only on success.  Doctors get paid for treating you, not for curing you.  Plumbers get paid for showing up, and then get paid more for doing the work.  Lawyers often work on contingent plans where…

Today’s New York Law Journal article by Brendan Pierson highlights the New York fee dispute apparatus.  Either attorney or client can trigger an arbitration, and if either is dissatisfied with the result, can request a de novo court case.  What is fascinating about this case is the lack of caution and apparent bad judgment on…