The Client comes in and tells you, "They didn’t know the case!  They didn’t prepare!  They lost the case!"  Is that enough for a good legal malpractice case?  A demonstrated lack of skill and a failure to prepare for litigation might seem proper fodder for a legal malpractice case, it’s not always enough.

In Chibcha …

Plaintiff must always prove that departures from good and accepted practice by the defendant were a proximate cause of the injury. Note that there need be no proof that the departure was the proximate cause. In Arbor Realty Funding, LLC v Herrick, Feinstein LLP 2013 NY Slip Op 01216
Appellate Division, First Department we see…

Plaintiff was charged with violating the Cornell University Campus Code by allegedly harassing a professor.  From there on in her legal arc was consistently downward.  She hired defendant attorneys to represent her in a CPLR Art. 78 and in a Title IX claim.  Both were unsuccessful.  She then sued all the attorneys, both individually and as…

In today’s New York Law Journal Christine Simmons reports on how the big boys play at legal malpractice.  Basically, it’s client with at least $1B in play hires Proskauer to advise them on a new borrowing/lending plan, which goes awry.  Lots of taxes become due, and finger pointing ensues.  The news in this dog bites…

Reading decisions of the Appellate Division in legal malpractice cases involving attorneys on both sides often shows the AD dismissing the complaint on "but for" grounds.  The AD will look closely at the underlying transactions which led to the underlying litigation, and will decide whether there would have been a better or different outcome.

In…

Schlam Stone & Dolan, LLP v Poch  2014 NY Slip Op 30415(U)  February 17, 2014  Supreme Court, New York County  Docket Number: 105769/11  Judge Shlomo S. Hagler presents the question of whether an attorney may be hired to represent an entity, and then represent the individual officers or members, without their knowledge.  What happens…

Personal injury and legal malpractice cases have many strong bonds. Because a sizable portion of the litigation world is devoted to personal injuries (on both the plaintiff’s and defendant’s side), one correctly expects significant legal malpractice litigation after-wards. How the legal malpractice case proceeds along with or after the PI case is a not well…

Real estate broker is asked to find a buyer. Broker presents a buyer, but no deal ensues. Broker papers the transaction and sits back. Later transaction goes through and Broker eventually seeks commission. Sellers attorney is sued. Is he liable?

Land Man Realty, Inc. v Faraone 2012 NY Slip Op 08218 Appellate Division, Third Department…