Quantum Meruit Claims: Is Interest Mandatory or Discretionary? by Joseph H. Einstein and Jonathan Gardner provides a well written analysis of whether pre-judgment interest is available to attorneys who prevail in a quantum meruit claim for fees.  The cases are all over the board, with differences between the Appellate Divisions and even within each…

One aspect of legal malpractice litigation is the failure to follow developments in the law. Rules change and not keeping up with the changes leads to mistakes, criticism and, later, litigation. The rules for non-party discovery have undergone some changes over the years, and today’s decision is worth reading.

In Kooper v Kooper ; 2010…

A criminal defendant is convicted and takes an appeal.  He loses.  Criminal defendant makes a CPL 440 motion.  He loses.  Now he finds out that no one seems to have his grand jury indictment.  Is that grounds for a successful appeal?  We don’t know, but in Lee v Pierre
2011 NY Slip Op 32911(U); November…

We often wonder whether legal malpractice cases are treated with a type of royal exasperation by judges.  Often the feeling in the air is that legal malpractice cases maybe should not be brought, or that its somewhat shameful to bring one, or that perhaps attorneys are due a little extra consideration.  We wonder if that’s…

Plaintiff and a buddy go to attorney to start a business. Attorney is retained, and eventually Plaintiff is the odd-person out. Attorney’s retainer agreement names only the buddy, and even though attorney sends letters to both Plaintiff and buddy, and creates documents which plaintiff and buddy sign, it is Buddy who comes out with 75%…

In Hirsch v Fink ; 2011 NY Slip Op 07699 ; Decided on November 1, 2011 ; Appellate Division, First Department  we see an unusual situation.  Attorney-client sues his own attorney after an attorney-based litigation for legal malpractice.  In this particular case plaintiff-attorney loses on res judicata and subsequent attorney grounds.
 

Subsequent attorney grounds…

Sometimes its obvious what responsibilities the attorney will take on in a new representation. If it’s a motor vehicle accident, then the attorney is hired to prosecute the personal injury action, up to and including trial. Here, in Hallman v Kantor ;2010 NY Slip Op 03280 ;Decided on April 20, 2010 ;Appellate Division, Second Department…

Legal malpractice cases arise when there has been some departure from good and accepted practice, and a negative result follows.  What happens if a party waits too long to file for some relief?  Generally speaking, they will be precluded, and some attorney will tell the client that there has been a departure.  In Simon v …