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Legal Malpractice

New York Attorney Malpractice Blog

Legal Malpractice Attorney & Lawyer
By Andrew Bluestone

Post Frequency: 9.8/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 06:03:18

A Primer in Nebraska Legal Malpractice Litigation

Posted on March 25, 2008
This case Wolski v. Wandel is a well written, well thought out discussion of summary judgment motions in legal malpractice. Although the primary subject is the use of expert testimony in opposing a motion for summary judgment, this decision sets forth many aspects of Nebraska Legal Malpractice law.

What if they gave a Legal Malpractice Trial and the Jurors Didn't Care?

Posted on March 24, 2008
The Madison Record regularly reports on legal malpractice cases within its geographical confines. Here is a long article on a current trial. Of interest? The juror's attitude."Attorneys in the Thompson Coburn legal malpractice trial care deeply about constructive trust and fiduciary duty, but the jurors don't seem to care at all...

Median Legal Malpractice Verdicts in the Mid-Atlantic States

Posted on March 24, 2008
Here is a short report on legal malpractice verdicts in Maryland, Virginia and DC. They were:"Metro Verdicts Monthly recently provided data on legal malpractice settlements and verdicts in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. The median legal malpractice settlement/verdict in Washington D...

Morrison Cohen Legal Malpractice Case Continues

Posted on March 21, 2008
The $15 Million case by Mercantile Capital Partners Fund against Morrison Cohen has survived a motion to dismiss. The decision by Justice Ling-Cohan determines that the complaint is sufficient for now. "The gravamen of this legal malpractice claim is that defendant's alleged failure to perfect plaintiff's security interest and subsequent failure of the credit bid deal caused plaintiff damages...

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Legal Malpractice Venue in Missouri

Posted on March 21, 2008
In New York for the most part, venue is found in the county where plaintiff or defendant resides or has its principal place of business. Here is an interesting case from Missouri, in which plaintiff successfully started and kept the case in the county [or district] where the wrong took place...

NJ Legal Malpractice Case against Drinker Biddel Reinstated

Posted on March 21, 2008
NY Lawyer reports that a legal malpractice case against Drinker Biddel, dismissed on summary judgment, has been reversed and remanded for trial. In a double whammy, DB's cause of action for legal fees has also been reversed."A New Jersey appeals court on Tuesday reinstated a claim that 630-lawyer Drinker Biddle committed malpractice that forced a litigation client to make a bad settlement and lose hundreds of thousands of dollars...

Statute of Limitations in Matrimonial Legal Malpractice

Posted on March 20, 2008
In Kvetnaya v. Tylo the Appellate Division, 2d Department reiterated an oft discussed rule, determining the date when a matrimonial legal malpractice statute of limitations starts tp run. The base rule is that the statute of limitations starts to run from the date of the mistake, unless there is continuous representation tolling...

Optimism and Reality in Legal Malpractice

Posted on March 20, 2008
Legal malpractice carriers are always looking for a way out. Coverage exclusions, notice provisions, each week out a very significant number of potential claims. Notice provisions are found both in the initial [usually yearly] applications, as well as the obligation to inform the carrier as soon as a claim is even a potential...

It's Not Legal Malpractice, but It's a Big Number

Posted on March 19, 2008
NY Lawyer, via Legal Inteligencer reports on this big number legal fee disgorgement case in Philadelphia. "A Philadelphia judge has ruled that a Montgomery County law firm should pay $5.2 million, including $1 million in punitive damages, for attorney fees the judge said the firm unlawfully accumulated during its collection of delinquent municipal and school district real estate taxes...

Cruising for a Bruising in Cruise Line Legal Malpractice

Posted on March 19, 2008
This story fromDaily Business Review about cruise line legal malpractice is a twist on the usual. Generally the story is about a lost plaintiff's case based on jurisdiction, or the lack thereof. Here the story is considerably more inflammatory, Plaintiff's lawyer Jay Wingate has been in the news lately, with tales of chasing cases, payoffs, and the like, Now, it is reported that: "Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines is suing attorney Jay Wingate to recover about $1 million in attorney fees, alleging his firm used misrepresentation to settle 23 worker-injury cases with the cruise line...

Will Aretha Franklyn Lose her Mansion over Legal Malpractice?

Posted on March 18, 2008
New York Lawyer reports that Aretha Franklyn, the Queen of Soul is in danger of losing her mansion over a missed tax payment, which was supposed to be handled by her attorney. Here is the story from the AP:"Aretha Franklin could lose her home to tax collectors...

An Example of "But For" in Legal Malpractice

Posted on March 18, 2008
Reported today in the NYLJ, the case of Sapir v. Resnick, Supreme Court, Nassau County , Decided February 26, 2008 illustrates an important point. The attorney's mistakes are but the starting point in any legal malpractice case. Vitality of the underlying case is all important too...

Blackwater. Iraq and Legal Malpractice

Posted on March 17, 2008
Blackwater's Attorney Wiley Rein, is involved in litigation over the deaths of Blackwater employees in Iraq. Tied up in this case are the questions of the military, contractors to the military, and the rules which apply to them. Do the rules changes in a war zone, do active military operations in the immediate area change the rules, and are employees of a contractor who are not military personnel within the Federal Officer removal statute...

Washington DC Big Law Legal Malpractice

Posted on March 17, 2008
From New York Lawyer: "The $5 million malpractice case against star litigator Michele Roberts of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld will proceed to trial in D.C. Superior Court. In a hearing that lasted more than three hours on March 7, Judge Jennifer Anderson weighed motions to dismiss, as well as a host of other matters...

When is a Claim Notice due to the Malpractice Carrier?

Posted on March 17, 2008
Legal malpractice insurance policies require, in general, that the insured notify the carrier of all incidents and claims, on penalty of forfeiting coverage. Here is an interesting article from Wiley Rein on this issue: "The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, applying Florida law, has held that a letter that gave notice of a potential lawsuit and requested information but that did not demand money or advise the recipient to put his insurance carrier on notice did not constitute a "Claim" under a medical malpractice professional liability policy...

"Relation Back" and Pleading Legal Malpractice

Posted on March 14, 2008
Pleading in legal malpractice can be tricky. Here is a recent New York case Shefa Unlimited, Inc., et al. respondents, v Amsterdam & Lewinter, 2006-10191 SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, SECOND DEPARTMENT 2008 NY Slip Op 1937; March 4, 2008, Decided, which reports the unsuccessful attempt to add new allegations against a law firm in a "relation back" setting...

Ineffective Assistance may not be Legal Malpractice

Posted on March 13, 2008
Plaintiff in Gersten v. Lemke, 110651/07 ,Decided: February 14, 2008 ,Justice Marylin G. Diamond ,NEW YORK COUNTY Supreme Court was indicted. He was convicted. He successfully had the indictment dismissed, after demonstrating ineffective assistance of counsel...

Narrow Exception for Privity in Legal Malpractice

Posted on March 12, 2008
The general rule is that one may not sue an attorney, unless that attorney was working for you. Privity is the concept that the attorney was hired by you, and worked for you. You may not sue the other party's attorney, no matter how badly you were treated in court by that attorney...

Conditional Tenders and Strategic Decisions

Posted on March 11, 2008
In this case, Tanger v Ferrer ,2008 NY Slip Op 01866 ,Decided on March 4, 2008 ,Appellate Division, First Department . the following mistakes led Supreme Court to grant summary judgment to plaintiff: "This Court found that the tenders were conditional and therefore did not act to stop the accrual of interest on the landlord's claim (Solow Mgt...

How to Lose a Summary Judgment Motion in Legal Malpractice

Posted on March 11, 2008
The case of Orchard Motorcycle Distributors v. Morrison Cohen shows just how easy it is to lose a motion for summary judgment, and not on the merits, either.1. Plaintiff did not submit an expert's affidavit in opposition to an expert's affidavit...

Legal Malpractice Attorney Called to Testify in Legal Malpractice Case

Posted on March 10, 2008
The Magna v. Coburn case in which the bank is suing attorney Coburn over "steering" to a settlement structuring company which eventually swindled clients, took an unusual turn. Lead attorney Rex Carr was called away from counsel table to the witness stand...

Plaintiff's Attorney Loses Three Ways after Settlement of Legal Malpractice Case

Posted on March 10, 2008
The problem of the uninsured or underinsured defendanat-attorney is illustrated in this West Virginia Case., Horkulic v. Galloway. Plaintiff settled th case for the full policy limit of TIG, and in a deal with the defendant attorney, took his putative bad faith claim, and agreed not to seek the attorney's personal assets...

SLAPP Cases and Legal Malpractice In California

Posted on March 07, 2008
Familiar with SLAPP suits? Unfair Competition Law? Probably not, unless you are in California. Here is a blog entry from Kimberly Kralowec on a legal malpracice case in California which illustrates a California litigation tactic...

When is an Attorney Responsible for his Client's Behavior

Posted on March 06, 2008
Depositions in New York used to be a variant of the Wild West rodeo. Bucking broncos, trying to stay up on the horse, pick your metaphor. New attorneys soon learned the usual tricks, "I'll take that under advisement", "I direct the witness not to answer" and all that...

Specialization, Legal Malpractice and Taking a Case you Don't Understand

Posted on March 06, 2008
Attorneys are generalists, no attorneys are specialists, no they can handle anything? The profession is of two minds on this question. Any attorney, duly admitted, etc. may offer opinion evidence on the behavior of another attorney, and any attorney might simply step up to the counsel table and give an appearance...

Mother and Son at War, Legal Malpractice and Settlements in NJ

Posted on March 05, 2008
NJ has some traps for the unwary in legal malpractice, and this case showcases several of them. In CELESTE GUIA PINTO, v.MCGOVERN, PROVOST & COLRICK, SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY ,APPELLATE DIVISION DOCKET NO. A-3186-06T53186-06T5 we see the Puder rule on settlements, the rule on certificates of merit, and an application of the Sheridan v...

Legal Malpractice and BCL 1505

Posted on March 05, 2008
Here is a legal malpracice statute of limitationscase in which the Appellate Division , First Department give a routine analysis of a legal malpracice case, dismissed on a CPLR 3211 motion in Supreme Court, and reversed in the Appellate Division...

No Expert, No Relationship, No Case in Legal Malpractice

Posted on March 04, 2008
Here is a SDNY case in which plaintiffs sued for legal malpractice, and lost the bench trial and the appeal. The decision does not spell out what was ambiguous about the retainer agreement, but both the bench and the appeal court determined that this "engagement" letter was insufficient to spell out an attorney-client relationship...

Blackwater Law Suit and Wiley Reins

Posted on March 03, 2008
BLT law blog [look it up for yourself] reports that Blackwater [the military and security subcontractor] is suing Zuckerman Spaeder in legal malpractice. Here it is from the BLT:"Wiley Rein has hired attorneys at Zuckerman Spaeder to represent the firm in the $30 million Blackwater suit...

They All Come Out to Hear a Legal Malpractice Witness

Posted on February 29, 2008
We write in a large legal community, and this story is from a smaller one. Nevertheless, the interior quote caught our attention. This trial Magna Bank v. Coburn has been going on in Madison County, and has been widely reported. Here is yet another story, but with a twist...

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