How far may an attorney go when dealing with a client before the line is crossed and extreme emotional distress may be charged?  It almost never happens, but  In Blumencranz v Botter 2012 NY Slip Op 32089(U) Sup Ct, Nassau County Docket Number: 15489/11 Judge: Joel K. Asarch we see behavior that is "utterly failing…

Commencement of a new case and the service of process are anachronistic to New York, and provide a wealth of potential problems for the experienced practitioner. Imagine how confusing it is to the pro-se plaintiff. In any event, were one to query a group of experienced attorneys, we predict that a shockingly large number would…

Courts are ready to consider dismissal of legal malpractice cases, especially when the motion for dismissal is predicated on the "but for" portion of the legal malpractice formula.  Put another way, even on thinly produced evidence, and before there is any discovery, courts are willing and able to determine whether plaintiff could have succeeded in…

As the economic times turn around, we are still seeing the results of the mortgage bubble.  in Ferreira v Citiwide Real Estate & Mgt. Co.   2013 NY Slip Op 50745(U)   Decided on May 8, 2013
Supreme Court, Queens County   Kitzes, J.  we see a typical issue.  What happens when the system spins, and the owner is…

Plaintiff’s mother brought a personal injury case against the City of New York for plaintiff from an injury of December 20, 2002. She retained defendant attorneys to represent her. She discharged the attorneys via a "Consent to Change Attorneys" in August , 2006. She brought the legal malpractice caseFleyshman v Suckle & Schlesinger, PLLC …

Some years ago the Legislature overruled the Court of Appeals, and passed CPLR 214(6). That statute was interpreted to say that all claims against an attorney (some other professionals) were subject to a 3 year statute, whether the claim was made in negligence or contract.

Here, in Walter v Castrataro 2012 NY Slip Op 02676…

When clients depend upon the expertise of an attorney, and then end up with a bad result, they can successfully plead legal malpractice. Does a client settle the personal injury case or litigate on? Depending on how the attorney advises the client, there may or may not be legal malpractice. Here is an example.

Polanco …

Reading the background information or the caption of some legal malpractice cases often reveals issues about the case itself.  In Stuart v Robert L. Folks & Assoc., LLP   2013 NY Slip Op 03319
Decided on May 8, 2013   Appellate Division, Second Department , we saw that the defense counsel’s name was all alone in…