There are many attorneys in New York, but when it comes to buying your home, a commercial business, or other transaction involving New York State real estate, you really should hire an attorney that handles real estate transactions. Real estate transactions can get complex. Hiring a real estate attorney has…
Two parties settle a long running dispute, then one become disenchanted, can that party sue her attorney for negligence in “forcing” a settlement. There are all sorts of ramifications, both for the clients and their attorneys. Here’s one case. In 2005, Joseph and Teresa Guidos settled a shareholder dispute with…
Chalk one up for the diligent little guy here. Cite-884 N.Y.S.2d 634 (2009) In a recent New York State case involving claims for legal malpractice arising from the failure of an attorney to adequately and timely respond to a fire insurance claim loss, the person injured by the malpractice was…
The New York State Supreme Court (Shafer, J) reiterates that to sue an attorney for malpractice arising out of alleged negligent will preparation there must be an attorney client relationship before the beneficiaries may sue for legal malpractice in New York. That is, there must be “privity” of contract between…
Since lawyers have been lawyers, there has always been pressure to release the age old bonds of the attorney client privilege in favor of letting non-professionals practice law. Never more so has this pressure been as intense as in the real estate industry where many states permit non-lawyer participants do…
In today’s day and age, attorneys, rightly and wrongly, get bad reputations from the public. Often these negative reputations are undeserved, but, as a profession, we lawyers need to do a better job of protecting that status as a profession by acting “professional.” So, what is it that small business…
To all prospective client and attorney relationships–note to self– get the fee agreement in writing, because the terms can come back from the grave to bite you. In New York State there is a rule of evidence known as CPLR § 4519 (the “Dead Man’s Statute”), which is designed to…
I have to comment on this scam because many lawyers are getting slammed, and I routinely get solicited from my private web-site for this type of scam: Someone representing an Asian company goes onto my web-site and tells me they need to collect a six figure judgment against “suppliers” in…
According to an American Bar Association, real estate lawyers are being sued more often for bad advice arising from real estate transactions According to a recent study of various insurance companies, and their claims between 2004 and 2007, malpractice claims against lawyers related to real estate transactions climbed four percentage…
Should we go to trial, or take the money? According to a recent study, the “right” answer generally depends upon whether you are a plaintiff or a defendant in the civil lawsuit. According to the study, in a full sixty-one (61%) percent of cases analyzed, plaintiffs who failed to settle…