The decision in Harvey v Greenberg ;2011 NY Slip Op 02546 ;Decided on March 31, 2011 ; Appellate Division, First Department  is the second appellate decision in a new line of cases which turn the "effectively compelled to settle" standard on its head.  Here the question is whether an allouction after settlement of a…

Reporting obligations, payments of money, and settlement of cases.  These are all regular and usual areas for attorney attention.  In the past, settlement of medical malpractice cases definitely had rules and obligations.  Infants had to get their compromises, the infirm had to get their guardians, many a settlement had to pass judicial scrutiny.

The medical…

This legal malpractice traces its birth to a 2000 tolling agreement between a long lost law firm, Tenzer Greenblatt and Kramer Levin, which took place in Delaware.  In 1996 investors started what would be a bankruptcy bound law suit over an investment firm. The case is Blank Rome, LLP v Parrish ; 2011 NY Slip Op…

Procedure is king in legal malpractice and elsewhere.  How does a good case end up in Civil Court.  Sometimes an inexperienced practitioner, or a pro-se litigant who is trying to save $ 175 might start the case in Civil Court rather than Supreme, and sometimes a judge will transfer the case pursuant to CPLR 325d…

Jail over Christmas…is there anything worse?  Well, yes of course there is, yet being jailed for the holidays is pretty bad. That’s what happened to plaintiff here.  Was it her fault or her attorneys?

in Minkow v Sanders ;2011 NY Slip Op 02120 ; Decided on March 24, 2011 ; Appellate Division, First Department  we…

Doctors and lawyers, legal and medical malpractice.  The two fields of law have many similarities, and in this case they are all mixed up.  Doctor hires attorney to handle a purchase of a Co-op for use as a medical office.  It turns out that there is no certificate of occupancy for use as a medical…

We discussed Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLP v e-Smart Tech., Inc.; 2011 NY Slip Op 30651(U);
March 18, 2011; Sup Ct, New York County; Docket Number: 113108/09; Judge: Judith J. Gische on the question of dropping a client just before a deadline. That shortcoming was held not to be legal malpractice.  What about unauthorized divulgance of…

CLE lecturers almost always warn the listener not to sue for fees. They tell attorneys at the lectures that there will be an inevitable legal malpractice counterclaim.  In the case of sole practitioners or small firms, a comparison of their insurance deductible with the fee claim should be made, because they may have to pay the…