Siracusa v Sager   2011 NY Slip Op 32244(U);August 3, 2011;Supreme Court, Suffolk County; Docket Number: 06-35942; gives Judge: Peter Fox Cohalan the opportunity to review a many faceted matrimonial child support legal malpractice case. Aside from the question of why a father would resist paying $ 125 a week in child support, the case seems to…

Justice Judith Gische of Supreme Court, New York County presents a primer on attorney fee litigation and the disposition of counterclaims for legal malpractice in Hurley v. Bulah Church of God in Christ Jesus, Inc. In this case the Church had gone through some hard times. A pastor was accused of financial wrongdoing, and…

This is the story of an attorney who put his own freedom at risk in order to stymie a former client, and a successor attorney. Why, and the clumsy method undertaken is the mystery. in In re: RUBY G. EMANUEL, Debtor.;Chapter 7, Case No. 97-44969 (SMB); UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF…

we’ve often written about privity and legal malpractice, and ran across this case illustrating the boundaries of privity in medical malpractice.  The facts are ghastly, and the outcome, for plaintiff, is doubly hurtful.

In Fox v Marshall ; 2011 NY Slip Op 06214 ; Decided on August 9, 2011 ; Appellate Division, Second Department…

Plaintiff sues attorneys for a divorce situation in which he alleges they represented both him and his wife, and lost about $1 million for him in the proceedings.  His complaint, in Verdelis v Landsman ; 2011 NY Slip Op 32196(U); August 8, 2011; Sup Ct, NY County; Docket Number: 651767/10; Judge: Judith J. Gische survives…

In this recurring situation, plaintiff has both a California and a NY connection, and hired an attorney to do some work, which eventually goes sour.  Frequently a case like this comes up in the entertainment field, with its CA and NY roots.  As an example, Basilotta v Warshavsky ; 2011 NY Slip Op 32185(U); August 2, 2011…

Chiantella v Kroll ;2011 NY Slip Op 32140(U) ;July 19, 2011 ;Sup Ct, Nassau County; Docket Number: 019337/07; Judge: Jeffrey S. Brown is a case that seems strange on all fronts.  Son is the beneficiary of mother’s trust, yet when she dies, he seems held hostage by the attorneys of the estate.  Since the…

It’s not as simple as one might think.  in Young v Quatela ;2011 NY Slip Op 32143(U); July 18, 2011;Sup Ct, Nassau County;Docket Number: 601658/09;Judge: Thomas Feinman we see how family and representation might be stretched or constricted based upon circumstances.

"The plaintiff moves by way of Order to Show Cause for an order…