Sometimes a legal malpractice case goes to the jury on the real question of whether plaintiff could have prevailed in the underlying case (the "but for" issue) and sometimes the legal malpractice case is ended at the motion stage. Here is one that was ended early.
Magidson v Badash ; 2012 NY Slip Op 00935…
Legal representation in even simple matters can lead to unintended consequences. As an Example H & J Restaurant v, A & J Grand Enterprises and Leigh, 2009 Slip OP 31544, authored by Justice Edmead, demonstrates how a simple ministerial mistake can end up with a potential $ 400,000 loss, with later judgment against the…
Insurers tell insureds that legal fee cases are the surest way of starting a legal malpractice case. In Blank Rome, LLP v Parrish ;2012 NY Slip Op 00820 ;Decided on February 7, 2012 ;Appellate Division, First Department we see how this develops.
"Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Jeffrey K. Oing, J.), entered on…
Schneider v. Finmann, 15 NY3d 306 (2010) was a sea-change in the law of legal malpractice. For the first time, an estate had standing to litigate over negligence in the representation of the estate and of decedent. Naturally, the usual rules of limitation still apply. Here, in Allmen v Fox Rothschild LLP; 2012…
A guy owns a business (a club?) called Good Time Charlies, and wants to sell it. He hires an attorney who drafts the business sale documents, which include a note for $ 80,000. Unfortunately, no "acceleration" clause is included. The transaction goes sour, and plaintiff sues the buyer. It’s then he learns that he cannot…
Psychologists and Forensic experts are routinely appointed by the Court to examine and produce evidence for the Court; attorneys similarly are used as guardians ad litem, as Court examiners and the like. Are they subject to suit, especially legal malpractice for their activities?
Probably not, and in most cases, no. Ashmore v Lewis, 2012…
The statute of limitations is three years in legal malpractice. It may be extended by the principal of continuous representation. Mere representation is not enough. There has to be a continuing relationship of trust and confidence and the work within the three year period must be on the same issue as is now being sued…
Assume the following: Plaintiff has a medical malpractice case and retains Defendant law firm to handle it. Defendant law firm works on the case for a while, and as the statute of limitations nears, tells the client that it’s not going to go forward, and that the client should seek other counsel. Client, who does…
Here is a short decision with deep reaching consequences. In Kurman v Schnapp ;2010 NY Slip Op 03786 ;Decided on May 4, 2010 ;Appellate Division, First Department we see the deceitful act of an attorney, and the Appellate Division substituting its finding for that of Supreme Court. We have commented on the natural inclination of…
The matter of Steinberg v. Schnapp, 2010 NY SlipOp 02991 relates the story of three lawyers, all of whom labored over a decedent’s estate, and how the triumvirate fell apart. Steinberg and Schnapp were retained to handle the estate by the executor who in this case was the third attorney. Things fell apart rapidly…
