By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Jan 12, 2022 | 0 Comments
Yesterday, the Appellate Division, First Department reversed a Manhattan Judge who refused to dismiss a legal malpractice claim against a law firm. The plaintiff alleged that he retained the law firm to sue an insurance company that disclaimed coverage for a property damage claim concerning his c...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Jan 10, 2022 | 0 Comments
On January 6, 2022, an appellate court overruled a Supreme Court, Bronx County Judge and ordered a retrial of a personal injury action brought by a plaintiff who fell down an exterior staircase. The trial court submitted the case to the jury on a liability theory exclusively premised on the lack ...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Jan 07, 2022 | 0 Comments
On January 6, 2022, an appellate court agreed that a Manhattan attorney could not be sued for failing to convey to his client an offer to settle a personal injury law suit - in the absence of an allegation that the plaintiff would have accepted the offer. This case represents the application of a...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Dec 30, 2021 | 0 Comments
On December 29, 2021, an appellate court determined that a Brooklyn jury verdict of $14,705,000 was invalid because of the substitution of a regular juror with an alternate juror in the midst of deliberations, without instructing them to restart deliberations anew so the newly substituted juror c...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Dec 29, 2021 | 0 Comments
Last month the Appellate Division Second Department set aside a jury verdict in favor of a pedestrian who claimed that she suffered a crush injury to her foot caused by a New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) bus in an accident that occurred late at night in Brooklyn. The plaintiff testified th...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Dec 28, 2021 | 0 Comments
On December 22, 2021, an appellate court covering an appeal from a defense verdict rendered by a Suffolk County jury, agreed that a Long Island Railroad train engineer was not responsible for the injuries suffered by a 30 year old male who was struck by a train. The plaintiff was residing in supp...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Dec 23, 2021 | 0 Comments
On December 23, 2021 an appellate court covering Saratoga County upheld the denial of a law firm's motion to dismiss a legal malpractice claim. The plaintiff claimed that she hired the defendant law firm to negotiate a settlement agreement with her former employer, the Town of Milton. The plainti...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Dec 17, 2021 | 0 Comments
On December 14, 2021, the First Department reversed a decision that addressed the duty owed by an attorney to a client arising out of a failure to file a Notice of Claim within 90 days and/or a motion for leave to file a late Notice of Claim within 1 year and 90 days. Plaintiff retained attorney ...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Dec 15, 2021 | 0 Comments
On December 3, 2021, the Appellate Term modified a Queens County, Civil Court jury verdict award of $150,000 for past pain and suffering in addition to $750,000 for 55 years of future pain and suffering to a 17 year old female injured in a rear end motor vehicle collision. The plaintiff testified...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Dec 13, 2021 | 0 Comments
On November 24, 2021, an appellate court covering appeals from Broome County in upstate New York resolved some novel legal issues in attorney-client relationships. What was unusual is that the Court found that a client's allegation that an attorney delayed her divorce/child custody litigation so ...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Dec 03, 2021 | 0 Comments
On November 18, 2021, the NYS Appellate Division, First Department reduced a jury verdict of approximately $60,000,000 to $29,000,000 for the pain and suffering of a 16 year old boy horribly burned in a chemistry class at New York City public high school. The boy was burned during a chemistry dem...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Aug 20, 2021 | 0 Comments
The New York Times published an eye brow raising article on August 19, 2021 about the perils of a popular plastic surgery procedure referred to as the Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL). According to the article this procedure "typically costs around $15,000, is not covered by insurance and fat is lipo-su...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Aug 18, 2021 | 0 Comments
On August 11, 2021, an appeals court covering Kings County upheld the decision of Justice Silber which denied a post-trial motion by the NYC Transit Authority to set aside a jury verdict in favor of a then 12 year old girl who slipped and fell on a puddle of water at the Grand Army Plaza subway s...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Aug 16, 2021 | 0 Comments
On August 11, 2021, the City of New Rochelle received a rude awakening from the Appellate Division, Second Department when their defense of qualified immunity arising out of a highway planning decision was rejected as baseless. The plaintiff was a pedestrian crossing the street in the crosswalk w...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Aug 12, 2021 | 0 Comments
On August 4, 2021, an appellate court reversed the decision of a Queens County Supreme Court Justice who had granted a motion for summary judgment (dismissal of case before jury trial) filed by North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System (NSLIJ) against a patient who had developed hideous bed so...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Aug 10, 2021 | 0 Comments
On July 7, 2021, an appellate court covering appeals from Kings County Supreme Court agreed that a roller skater at the Pier 2 Roller Ring at Brooklyn Bridge Park could not sue the rink for injuries suffered when she tripped over an uneven portion of the wooden floor. The general manager of the r...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Aug 06, 2021 | 0 Comments
Generally a pharmacist cannot be held liable to someone injured by a prescribed drug unless he or she failed to fill a prescription exactly as prescribed by a physician. An exception to this general rule is when the prescription is so clearly contraindicated that "ordinary prudence" imposes a dut...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Aug 05, 2021 | 0 Comments
On July 28, 2021, the Appellate Division, Second Department reversed a Kings County Justice who had dismissed a legal malpractice claim as untimely and for plaintiffs alleged lack of standing. In the year prior to suit the plaintiff had filed a bankruptcy petition and neglected to list the potent...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Aug 04, 2021 | 0 Comments
On July 28, 2021, an appellate court covering appeals from Westchester Supreme Court agreed with the lower court that dismissed a Labor Law Section 240 (1) filed by an HVAC mechanic who fell from a ladder. The appellate court found that the injury occurred while the mechanic was replacing a conde...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Aug 02, 2021 | 0 Comments
On June 30, 2021, the Appellate Division, Second Department overruled a Nassau County Justice and held that a legal malpractice claim could not be dismissed simply because there was no written retainer agreement. The plaintiff had defaulted on a real estate mortgage resulting in a judgment of for...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Jul 30, 2021 | 0 Comments
On June 30, 2021, an appellate court reversed a Nassau County Supreme Court Justice who dismissed a client's breach of contract claim against his former attorney. Far too many legal malpractice claimants throw in a breach of contract claim for good measure, despite being routinely dismissed as du...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Jul 29, 2021 | 0 Comments
Three years ago, a Queens County jury found that a woman in her 60's consulting with her gynecologist was not told that an ultrasound revealed the presence of suspicious fluid in the cul-de-sac which ultimately led to her premature death. The jury also found that the gynecologist departed from ac...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Jul 21, 2021 | 0 Comments
On July 16, 2021, an appellate court that hears appeals from Oneida County Supreme Court, ruled that there was a narrow exception to the general rule adopted by the New York Court of Appeals in 1889 that, “no one shall be permitted to take advantage of his own wrong” using the Courts. In January ...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Jul 19, 2021 | 0 Comments
In March 2021, a Staten Island Judge dismissed a legal malpractice suit brought against an attorney who allegedly allowed a default judgment to be taken against the client for $865,000. The issue before the Court was whether the legal malpractice suit was premature since the defendant law firm ha...
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By Ronald C. Burke, Esq on Jul 16, 2021 | 0 Comments
On July 8, 2021, the Appellate Division, First Department reversed a Manhattan Judge who refused to enforce a settlement via email between counsel because plaintiff's counsel failed to retype his name on the email agreeing to the settlement offer of $400,000. Plaintiff's counsel revoked his accep...
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