I do not usually comment on tort cases. However, I recently came across Westchester Hills Gold Club v. Panken, 2017 N.Y. Slip Op. 30045(U) (New York Co. Jan. 10, 2017), which many readers may find of interest. Download Westchester Hills v. Panken NY County 2017 This is one of a rare set of legal malpractice cases that arose in the context of a labor arbitration.
In this decision, the court refused to dismiss a legal malpractice case involving advice given by management lawyers in both a disciplinary and contract arbitration. As the court stated in part:
Additionally, this court finds that the complaint sufficiently alleges that defendants' conduct in the
X matter was the proximate cause of plaintiffs damages. The complaint alleges that "but for
[defendants'] malpractice, X's discharge would have been upheld" and that plaintiff would not have
suffered damages in having to pay X back pay for the time during which X was discharged.
Specifically, the complaint alleges that defendants' conduct in failing to enforce the terms of the 2010 final
warning, failing to draft and procure an enforceable LCA, failing to investigate the complaints made about
X's conduct during the August 2013 luncheon in order to meet plaintiffs burden of proving that
X was discharged for "just cause" and failing to call any witnesses to testify at the arbitration hearing
who observed X's conduct proximately caused plaintiffs damages in that plaintiff was required to
reinstate X and pay him back pay based on the arbitrator's determination that X should not have
been discharged. . . .
Of course, on a motion to dismiss, courts view the facts plead in a light most favorable to the Plaintiff. None of the allegations may be true and Plaintiff may not ultimately prevail at trial.
Mitchell H. Rubinstein