Dillon v Peak Envtl., LLC  2019 NY Slip Op 04548  Decided on June 7, 2019  Appellate Division, Fourth Department is the story of an upstate commercial case which went through a lot of procedural wrangling, up to the Appellate Division, with little forward movement.  Legal malpractice is an important but not properly plead part. “Memorandum: Plaintiffs commenced this action against defendants-third-party plaintiffs (third-party plaintiffs) seeking damages for, inter alia, fraudulent inducement and breach of contract. Third-party plaintiffs…

It seems as if the Appellate Division scratched its head on this claim of legal malpractice.  It seemed not sure how to calculate the claimed departure from good practice.  In Kaplan v Conway & Conway  2019 NY Slip Op 04477  Decided on June 6, 2019  Appellate Division, First Department it questioned the foundation of the legal malpractice case. “The motion court properly granted defendants’ motion to dismiss. The complaint alleged that defendants committed legal malpractice by failing…

Let’s assume that an attorney fails to make sure that there is a certificate of occupancy for the finished version of a home, and then a tree falls on the house, do we know enough to determine whether there was legal malpractice?  We fall into a familiar trap if our analysis ends with identification of a departure.  We must go on to reason whether the departure led to a bad proximate result.  In Nill v …

From time to time we discuss Judiciary Law § 487, the ancient common law statute.  It is perhaps the oldest common law statute,  post-dating the Magna Carta  (1215) by only 60 years. It was imported into the common law at the birth of our nation.  Over time refinements and embellishments have been added, including the requirements of a “chronic and extreme pattern of legal delinquency.” We are proud to report that the Court of Appeals has…

Naivete is the assigned cause of the sale of a building without full payment, but legal malpractice is the claimed reason.  Problem?  Plaintiff started the action 4 years after the sale.  Hudson 418 Riv. Rd., LLC v Safiya Consultants Inc.  2019 NY Slip Op 31506(U)  May 24, 2019  Supreme Court, Kings County  Docket Number: 510351/18  Judge: Leon Ruchelsman is a short story of heartbreak. “As recorded in prior orders, property located at 986 Gates Avenue in Kings County was owned…

In what looks like a 9 year battle over attorney fees and legal malpractice allegations, it appears that everyone loses in this case.  Filemyr v Hall  2019 NY Slip Op 31526(U)  May 28, 2019  Supreme Court, New York County  Docket Number: 654563/2018  Judge: Andrew Borrok discusses limitations on attorney fee claims and the necessity of making concrete allegations of legal malpractice. “This action arises from Mr. Filemyr’ s representation of the defendants as shareholders of 1885 – 93 7th…

Pro-se cases, as might be expected, often wash up on the rocks because of poor technical application.  In Strujan v Kaufman & Kahn, LLP  2019 NY Slip Op 00630 [168 AD3d 1114] January 30, 2019  Appellate Division, Second Department we see failed service of the summons, denied default motions and a direction that all motions be made by order to show cause.  Worse for plaintiff, dismissal. “Since the defendants represented the plaintiff’s adversaries in a prior…